Maria Sharapova ( orange t-shirt and black shorts ) practice session at Wimbledon
Archive for July, 2007
Venus-Sharapova showdown set in fourth round
WIMBLEDON, England — Venus Williams squeezed past the rain and third-round opponent Akiko Morigami to set up a fourth-round showdown Tuesday with fellow former champion Maria Sharapova.
“I just always feel like it should go my way,” said three-time champion Williams, who sprayed 14 double faults and trailed Japan’s Morigami 5-3 in the third set but ran off the final four games to complete Saturday’s rain-delayed contest 6-2, 3-6, 7-5. “I guess experience helps.”
Williams again summoned her deep reserves, finishing off the 71st-ranked Morigami as rain began falling for the sixth time in seven days.
Second-ranked Sharapova is next up, and Williams might have to dig deeper.
Williams’ mother and coach, Oracene Price, said Venus will need to avoid the spotty play and step it up if she wants to advance.
“Hopefully, she’ll learn something from this match and calm down,” Price said. “You may have a more-focused Venus when she plays Maria.”
Sharapova leads the rivalry 3-1, including their most recent clash on hardcourts in March at Miami. Williams won their only meeting on grass when she beat Sharapova in the semifinals on her way to her third All England Club title in 2005.
Sharapova, 20, one of two players to complete a third-round match Saturday, said she wasn’t prepared for the sustained, physical tennis the 27-year-old American threw at her two years ago.
“I felt like at that stage in my career I wasn’t really ready,” she said.
Both players’ seasons have been shortened by injury.
Williams, ranked No. 31 but seeded 23rd, missed the Australian Open in January because of a bad wrist and has played eight events this year. A sore shoulder kept Sharapova off tour for almost two months this spring.
Serving problems this year have at times plagued both players, which could be the key to their second meeting on the game’s biggest stage.
“She is not going to be given the same free pass from Sharapova that she did today when Morigami served for it,” ESPN analyst Cliff Drysdale said. Still, it’s a toss-up, he said.
“It’s a 50-50 call,” he said.
Usa Today