Sharapova's career was marked by immense highs and lows. "I think she's going to give it one more shot.'' POST-MATCH PRESS CONFERENCE, AUSTRALIAN OPEN:Īt last year's Italian Open, Nick Bollettieri, Sharapova's former coach, was asked if retirement was in the cards for his longtime pupil. 145, and lost matches to Jennifer Brady in Brisbane and Donna Vekic at the Australian Open, before calling it a career. Sharapova battled a shoulder injury for most of 2019, a season in which she reached just one quarterfinal. In one of the tennis' most famous "anti-rivalries," Williams won 20 of their matches, the most recent a 6-1, 6-1 first-rounder at last year's US Open. It would be one of just two victories the Russian would earn over the American-the other also coming in 2004, at the WTA Championships. The 32-year-old became a household name at 17, when she defeated Serena Williams in the Wimbledon final. Tennis-I’m saying goodbye,” Sharapova wrote. “How do you walk away from the courts you’ve trained on since you were a little girl, the game that you love-one which brought you untold tears and unspeakable joys – a sport where you found a family, along with fans who rallied behind you for more than 28 years? “How do you leave behind the only life you’ve ever known?,” wrote Sharapova. Paul Annacone is Britain’s Davis Cup coach and the head men’s coach for the Lawn Tennis Association.On Wednesday, in an emotional essay on and, Maria Sharapova announced that she is retiring from tennis after an illustrious career that saw her win five Grand Slam titles. Place your serve, hit a deep second shot into the open court, and look to put away the next shot. Sometimes she hits outright winners, but that shouldn’t be the goal for club players. Sharapova hits an aggressive second shot whenever possible. There’s no better time to take control of a rally than when your opponent hits an average or weak service return. When she hits a good serve, she doesn’t let her opponent off the hook by hitting her next shot up the middle. Use a combination *Once you improve your serving accuracy, you’ll have more opportunities to use the one-two punch that Sharapova has mastered. You don’t need a partner to work on this, just a bucket of balls and some targets. Placement and guile are just as effective as power, sometimes more so. If you can serve accurately, your opponents may return your delivery, but they won’t punish it. The important thing to understand about the serve is that it doesn’t have to be a bullet. When she’s serving well, though, she does a fantastic job of hitting precise spots and opening up the court for her forehand. Serve to spots *Sharapova doesn’t have the most explosive serve in the world, and she can get into a funk with her high toss and slow wind-up (she double faulted 43 times in four matches at this year’s French Open). You might be surprised to find out how often your shots fall short. Next time you’re hitting with a partner, see how many times in a row you can hit a ball past the service line. You should hit at medium pace with some height over the net and past the service line every time (the closer to the baseline the better). I don’t expect your strokes to be like Sharapova’s, but you can try to hit them with the same purpose. This is especially important for a tall woman like Sharapova, who moves well for her size but will never be the fastest player on tour. Sharapova’s ground strokes travel a safe distance above the net but land deep and keep her opponents from attacking her. If you hit too flat, you’ll have little margin for error. If you hit with too much spin, your ball will land short and sit up. Hit through the court *Like Lindsay Davenport and Pete Sampras, Sharapova shows the value of hitting strokes that have some topspin but are still flat enough to penetrate the court (not coincidentally, all three trained with coach Robert Lansdorp when they were juniors). The more you try to do it, the more mental stamina you’ll have. It takes a lot of energy to maintain your focus for that long. See if you can play a set at peak intensity without letting up. The best way to improve your concentration in matches is to work at it. The best way to improve your forehand is to hit more forehands. Sharapova is obviously a driven person, but discipline can be a learned habit, too. On the court, she plays with incredible intensity, point after point, stroke after stroke. Since her early years on the tour, she has been one of the most disciplined players in the sport. Discipline, discipline, discipline Sharapova has a lot of interests outside tennis, from fashion to art, but she always puts tennis first. The 21-year-old Russian’s intensity and tactics can teach you how to win consistently.ġ.
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