Maria Sharapova is the number two tennis player in the world and is the second seed at the Australian Open. Yet, she was one point away from leaving the tournament in Melbourne. On day three of the year's first Grand Slam, there have been numerous upsets, but none would have been bigger than this one with Sharapova facing fellow Russian Alexandra Panova who is ranked 150. Sharapova, coming off a victory in the warm-up tournament last week in Brisbane, looked sharp playing her typically agressive game at the beginning of the match, winning the first set 6-1 in record time. Minutes later, 25 year old Panova found her stride and forced Sharapova to overhit wildly. Panova took the second set 6-4 and was up 4-1 in the third set.
But this is when Sharapova turns it up one notch. You can see it in her eyes, that fighting spirit that truly believes she will win no matter what the scoreboard reads. You can also hear it loudly as her shrieks intensify in volume and length. Regardless of how she does it, the amazing thing is to actually watch her do it. Any tennis player will tell you so much of the game is mental. I'm an avid player on two teams and it's something we mere mortals can only marvel at. Sharapova broke back, held and survived two match points to win 7-5 in the third set. A match that lasted two hours and 32 minutes. Afterwards, a relieved Sharapova hid her frustration.
"I'm just happy to get through," said Sharapova. "I was two point from being out of the tournament. I just didn't play my best tennis today. "
That is quite an understatement, the five time Grand Slam winner committed 51 unforced errors to just 38 winners. Sharapova credited her opponent who played the best match of her career, finishing with 20 winners to 36 unforced errors.
"I thinks she played a pretty inspired match," said Sharapova. "I had a lot of challenges in front of me. But whatever you face you have to be good enough to move on"
Spoken like a true champion and fighter. As for those shrieks, critics of the women's tennis are asking tournament directors to step in, but so far the only response has been that they are: "looking into the excessive grunting of the game."
Interesting that Hall of Fame great Rod Laver whose name adorns the main arena in Melbourne is not a fan. "I stay away from women's tennis because I can't stand the shrieking," said Laver.
However, Maria Sharapova, remains unfazed. She will continue to ignore the critics and play her game as long as the wins keep pilling up and with 34 singles titles the only person standing in her way is top ranked Serena Williams.
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