Maria Sharapova Cruises Past Justine Henin to Enter Final Four
Article by Aaress Lawless on Jan 22, 2008 | Print |
Maria Sharapova has thrown down the gauntlet to the five women remaining in the draw at the 2008 Australian Open.
She wants her third Grand Slam title and is willing to pummel anyone, including the world’s best player, to bring the trophy home.
Sharapova snapped Justine Henin’s thirty-two match win streak on Tuesday in Melbourne by dismissing the world No. 1 in two sets 6-4, 6-0.
Although Henin played inconsistently in patches during her first four matches, she did bring a high quality game to the court today. But Sharapova’s aggression and powerful backhand strokes quickly overwhelmed the Belgian. Sharapova’s serve is again her best weapon, and she begrudgingly surrendered only one break of serve.
Sharapova quickly raced to a 3-0 lead in the match before Henin finally landed on the scoreboard. The Russian continued to dominate until Henin broke for the first time to get back on serve for 5-4, but Sharapova broke back on her fourth set point to take the opening set.
The second set started very similar with Sharapova cruising to a 5-0 lead, only to close out the match on Henin’s serve for a crushing bagel win.
Sharapova will play Jelena Jankovic, who defeated Serena Williams earlier on Tuesday, for a berth in the championship match.
Despite her loss, Henin is assured to remain in the No. 1 spot. Sharapova cannot move higher than her present ranking of No. 5 and needs to win the title to remain inside the Top 5.
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Will.I.AM | Jan 22, 2008 | Reply
As Bud Collins would say, this match was “SENSUAL”! AMAZING!!! Maria was my pick to win this match, but I did not expect her to dominate like she did. Maria moved and served well. She simply out-played Justine.I can’t even go back to sleep! This championship is Maria’s for the taking!
pov | Jan 22, 2008 | Reply
LOL. I didn’t watch but I too am surprised that Sharapova won so handily. This time the match stats fit the outcome: http://www.australianopen.com/en_AU/scores/stats/day14/2501ms.html
A couple things that surprise me:
- Henin’s first serves were, on average, 8 km/h faster than Sharapova’s first serves. That *really* took me aback!
- Sharapova won more of her points receiving than serving.
- Sharapova won only 3 more 1st service points than Henin (21 - 18)
While many consider Sharapova a big-serve player and assert that “her serve is her best weapon” the stats back up what Will.I.Am saw - she outplayed Henin in all aspects of the game.
pov | Jan 22, 2008 | Reply
I wonder where my comment went?
Aaress | Jan 22, 2008 | Reply
Sorry Will.I.Am, but I so didn’t have that problem!
Pov, sorry, it looks like your comment got stuck in moderation for some odd reason, but it is being displayed now.
What was amazing about last night was that Henin played excellent tennis. There was no rhyme or reason, unlike Serena earlier, why she lost, other than the fact that Sharapova played brilliantly. I’ve never seen Maria mix up her game as well or serve so consistently.
I’m looking forward to her semifinal against Jankovic - that should be very interesting.
Ryan | Jan 23, 2008 | Reply
Im sorry Aaress, but i dont think Justine played excellent tennis at all. She was just not in the game at any point in time at all. She doesnt usually play like that at all.
I would like to however say that Sharapova did play well. She hit the ball really well and Justine was just really out of her whole element and just not in the match like she usually will be. I guess it was just one of those days where you wake up from the wrong side of the bed and everything just goes wrong no matter how hard you try.
Kumar | Jan 26, 2008 | Reply
If anyone thinks Justine played well, they were referring to her movement, which is still fluid even when she is off her game. And she WAS off. I mean, her shots were all landing near the service line, and it wasn’t all due to Maria, because Justine has handled her well enough in the past. Justine’s serve was bad too, with little variation. One was having a bad day at work, the other, an inspired day. The last time Justine lost a set so easily was… against Bartoli at Wimbledon! It makes sense, because even in that match, after the first set, she played short and without conviction.
Congrats Maria, though. I do wish she could have faced one of the Williams… That would have been a good test.