In a battle of all out offense versus quick feet and steadiness Chinese WTA player Jie Zheng defeated Maria Sharapova in three sets, 6-3, 2-6, 6-3. Sharapova is said to have gained a lot of strength and confidence in her hitting shoulder since she had surgery on it not too long ago, but this didn’t keep her from committing a whopping 14 double faults through out the match, sometimes as many as four in a single game. Sharapova’s offense kept her in the match, however as she continued attacking off the ground against the 5′ 4″ Zheng. The match lasted almost three hours as Zheng played a variety of defense, counter punching, and offense of her own. At the end of the day the more well rounded player ended up on top, but not by much.
How long will Sharapova continue this slide? Only time will tell. I’m extremely curious to know what she does on the practice court to work on her serve. Even when she didn’t double fault it seemed like she was simply going for broke on her second serve, often times hitting the as hard as her first. I suppose this is very similar to the rest of her game, but never ceases to amaze me. This is a professional athlete who is 6′ 2″ tall and has the money to hire the best instructors and coaches in the world. Why should the only shot in tennis that she’s able to set up to herself be such a big issue? Maybe I’m being callous. After all, I’ve never had surgery on my rotator cuff nor had to deal with everything that goes along with it, but that doesn’t explain the double faults in which she hits her second serve just as hard as her first, or misses wide after obviously aiming for a corner when it’s completely unnecessary. Develop some more spin, aim for the center of the box, do anything but give away over three full games worth of service points.
