On days like today, im reminded of a visit from a couple of friends of mine, whom happen to frequent this site now and again. During this visit, whilst enjoying the finer points of a game of Championship Manager (the outcome of which is not important, although for the record I beat both my acquaintances), when the discussion turned to tennis. It was during the French Open, and we happened to begin talking about the possibility of a somewhat surprise package taking the title. At the time, a certain Maria Sharapova remained in the draw, and had what appeared to be an easy draw to the semis, and possibly the final. After making the seemingly ludicrous claim that she could make the final, I was met with howls of derision and whoops of laughter. It was this that took me back to my statement at the second Monday at last years Wimbledon, where I proclaimed to the same visiting friend whilst using the wonder of technology that is the internet, that ‘Next year will be Maria’s year’.

Well, I paint that picture for you, 12 months and 5 days on, with a smug grin on my face. Obviously, im not going to attempt to ring my mother to tell her of such an achievement, but it is pleasing all the same when a prediction comes off, and so I can only be thinking the joy that must be oozing out of a certain Mr Sharapova this Saturday evening.

I shall spare you the match report. Most people who have been interested in tennis before Wimbledon will have read about it elsewhere or watched it, and those who have gathered an interest over the last fortnight due to low cutting tops and shrieks of sweaty effort will not be so interested in the actual tennis that was played. However, for those who are new to the game, Saturday’s game was a great example of Maria’s game. Refusing to be over-awed by the scenario, playing her own game and not giving up on a point until a line judge deems a shot out or the ball has passed her. Saturday’s game was a pure example of the talent that is Maria Sharapova, and will send shock waves through the women’s tennis scene.

 

The match was a pleasure to watch. I missed it live unfortunately, due to work commitments. However listening to it through the radio was an interesting experience. Tennis on the radio is quite hard to put up with. Listening to the ramblings of Micheal Stich, one never quite feels the same atmosphere as when watching it live or even on the television, and you cannot really appreciate a shot that you are told is good. Returning from work this evening in time to catch the highlights, it became apparent that the radio commentary did hardly any justice at all to how good the game was.

As I say, I shall spare the match report, but will embellish slightly on the scoreline. The first set, which Maria won 6-1, saw no sign of the nerves that were automatically accredited to Maria by a majority of the press. Her ground strokes were full of confidence, a shot which is hugely important to any player for all the tennis virgins reading this, but is more so for Maria such is the power she generates in the shot, allowing her to work her opponent around the court. This was exactly the case today, making Serena move about the court as if the roles were the opposite, and Sharapova was facing a first time finalist for her third title in a row.

The second set saw Sharapova broken and was the time that experts decided to be the time where the nerves would finally set in. A break down however, Maria hit back, levelled the match with a break of her own, and then in a stunning game at 4-4, grabbed a break having played some top class tennis through the game including a sweet lob which even Serena had to applaud.

So what now for Maria? We all knew that she had potential. As a 17 year old girl breaking through the rankings in less than a year (Before Birmingham last year she had not won a WTA event in 5 months, her only wins in that time coming at a 75k USTA event). Now, 13 months on, she is the Wimbledon Champion and with the hard court season to come (a surface which suits her game well and on which most of her success has come until now) is it plausible that we see Maria in the end of year championships? Such a statement at the start of the year would have seemed foolhardy, but her rise up the rankings has continued, aided somewhat by the poor first half of last year (whereby rankings are determined by comparing ones results to the same time last year, so Maria will actually lose ranking points if she comes runner up at next years Wimbledon).

 

Playing on a surface that suits her game, and with the confidence of a Grand Slam win under her belt, it seems obvious that the rest of the year will continue to se her rise up the rankings. This may not be the case however. For the first time in her career now, she will have rankings points to defend. Likewise,she can no longer be considered a dark horse, the young  pretender who can cause an upset or two (that title now belongs to one Miss T. Golovin, what odds Wimbledon next year? Anyone?). Players on the tour are more aware of her game today than ever before. These are all problems that will face Maria over the next few months. Following the claim regarding the Porsche end of year championships, one could just as easily make the claim that Maria will continue to float about in the mid teens, not breaking into the top 10.

This is not a bad thing, and should Maria end the year ranked around 15-20, it shouldn’t be seen as a disappointment. She has numerous years ahead of her to gain more success. Whereas last year was a year to become accustomed to the strains of the tour, this year was about gaining experience. Last year she ended ranked in the mid 30’s, and to maintain her rise to a solid top 20 berth in a year is a good achievement. One should certainly not get carried away by the fact that she has won today. It is one thing to be inspired in only your sixth Grand Slam event, your first final and on the hallowed turf of Centre Court, but is quite another to perform week in week out at a top 10 standard. Numerous players we have seen drop out of the top 10 to relative obscurity of late, and likewise many players sit around the 10-15 mark failing to break into the elite of the game.

 

One should not take away from the achievement today however. Winning Wimbledon is something many good players have failed to do, and to do so at the second attempt is an astounding achievement. The future should hold many more finals, as Maria herself admitted in her post match sentiments, stating that she and Serena would meet again in other finals in the future. Few would dispute such a claim, such is Maria’s talent and Serena’s dominance (walking back into the game and reaching the final of a Grand Slam without really being tested until the semis). But some caution should be exercised in such confidence.

 

As mentioned, players have scaled the heights of the top 10, and at a young age too (Dokic and Hantuchova to cite the two obvious examples). Both now find themselves struggling for form due to whatever personal problems which the media should not interest themselves with. One possible reason for this is the success they enjoyed early in their lives has caused them to miss out on the normal lifestyle they might lead had they not be so gifted. Playing tennis from such a young age, devoting all your time to it, and in the case of Maria, her family devoting such time to it, is likely to have strain on a person when they reach a more mature age. Few would have expected the split between Dokic and her father following the success it brought, but it happened all the same. Now, it would be foolhardy to end on a prediction for the same occurring to Maria. Different people have different attitudes. But it something that must be taken into account when discussing Maria’s future. Everyone said following Dokic’s runs at Wimbledon having beaten Hingis that she was a future champ. That may still the case, but her current form will bring her little success. Maria should take great note of Dokic’s life over the past few years. Their careers, up to this morning were very similar. A young girl, capable of beating anyone on her day, with obvious talent bursts onto the tennis scene. Maria’s success today sets her apart from Dokic in one sense, but is increased cause for caution in another. Todays result could send Maria from confidence, which any good player needs, to arrogance. It is this of which she should be most cautious. Arrogance can never help a player. Complacency will set in, assuming results will come. And that is only a problem on the court. Off the court arrogance will take her away from her fans, which will not help if the results do turn bad, and support is needed. Likewise, should a player whose physical appearance gets her as much attention as Maria does lose the support of her fans, then the appearance of the player is adversely affected.

This is of course the worst case scenario. And one should not be dwelling on the worst case scenario today having watched Maria produce her best performance at a time when it really mattered. Today is about revelling in glory. Maria is the third youngest winner of Wimbledon, played one of the world’s best players off the grass today and laid the foundations for what should be the first of many titles to come. She was heralded as a future champion, and has proved that title was well warranted. She has said she is much more than another Kournikova, and has proved that today with a quality performance.

I started this article with a prediction, and so seems the best way to end it. It isn’t going to be gloom and doom like I have said should be cautioned against. However, likewise, one win, one inspired performance does not make Maria the best player in the world. So how about this? Maria scrapes into the Porsche championships at the end of the year, due to one of the Williams having something wrong with their knees, picks up one win, but doesn’t make a huge impact. That’s for the short term. Long term? Steady progress. Not as fast as we have seen in the past 18 months, but top 10 by this time next year, and from there, it will take commitment to stay there. Whether or not this commitment is affected by outside influences remains to be seen, and is something I would rather not predict.

Matt Donaldson