Wimbledon 2015: Sharapova has no answer for Williams

Maria Sharapova lost to two different opponents on a gloriously sunlit Centre Court yesterday.

Serena Williams is a study in concentration as she takes on Maria Sharapova in the women’s semi-final at Wimbledon.

Maria Sharapova lost to two different opponents on a gloriously sunlit Centre Court yesterday.

In the opening set, she was defeated not by Serena Williams herself, her ostensible opponent in the semi-final, but by Serena Williams’s reputation. The world No 4 seemed completely overawed by her rival and, perhaps most significantly, by their one-sided head-to-head record; over the past 11 years, Williams has won on 16 straight occasions.

At times, it was as if Sharapova’s iron will had turned to jelly. She double-faulted three times in the opening game alone. She could not get her feet moving. In the baseline exchanges, she was insipid. Even her shriek sounded plaintive, like a seagull unsure of where the next meal was coming from.

It finished in a flash. “Serena barely had to do anything,” John McEnroe said.

In the second set, however, Sharapova got going. It was as if she had dispelled from her mind the trauma of so many defeats, and was able to see her opponent as flesh and blood. Her tempo upped, her serve was injected with pace. She even managed an authentic “come on” when winning the third game. This was real, competitive tennis, with high-quality hitting, moving and, at times, tactical variation. The crowd began to buzz.

But there was still an insurmountable problem for Sharapova: Williams herself. Even when stripped of all the negative associations, Sharapova just could not live with the world No 1.

Williams has heavier groundstrokes, greater accuracy and a vastly more powerful serve. Sharapova was disciplined and unintimidated, but she was outplayed. The second set took a little longer and Sharapova won two more games, but the outcome was the same. The match ended 6-2 6-4.

“I always expect her to play the best tennis against myself,” Sharapova said. “She does always come up with great tennis. I rarely found myself in a position to break her today. I didn’t get any looks at break points.”

It has been a breathtaking turnaround. When Sharapova defeated Williams in the final on this court in 2004, the omens did not seem good for the loser. This was a free-hitting, ferociously competitive young talent. Sharapova, five years younger, had youth on her side too.

Since then, however, Williams has won 14 grand-slam titles to Sharapova’s four. The reason is simple: while Sharapova is playing tennis recognisably similar to 2004, Williams has taken off into the stratosphere. It is possible that the world No 1 is still improving at the age of 33.

And that is the astonishing thing about this singular champion. Williams seems to thrive in adversity, or perhaps she is so familiar with it that it has lost its power to intimidate.

She was brought up in one of the most violent neighbourhoods in Los Angeles and shared a bedroom with two sisters (including Venus) and half-sisters. She started playing tennis at the age of three at the local courts, and often had to clear broken bottles and fast-food wrappers before she could start hitting. For many years, the entire family were seen as outsiders.

Perhaps the most debilitating period of her life was in the aftermath of the murder of Yetunde, her eldest sister, in a drive-by shooting in 2003. The bullets had been intended for someone else. Williams was in Toronto for a television show that day and would ultimately plunge into depression. She plummeted down the rankings, reaching a low of 140.

Only after receiving counselling and finally allowing herself time to grieve did she start to turn the corner.

When I interviewed her at length in 2009, I was struck, more than anything else, by her warmth and kindness. She was attentive, courteous, and spoke at length about her faith in God. She was also compelling on the lessons she has taken from life.

“You want to know my message to people?” she said. “If you want to achieve your dreams, you gotta work real hard. Sure, sometimes you fall down — and I have fallen an awful lot. But then you have to live the words of Muhammad Ali: ‘Being a champion isn’t about what you do when you are on top; it’s about what you do when you are knocked down’.”

To her opponents, most notably Sharapova, Williams is an insurmountable obstacle. But to everyone else, she should be seen as an inspirational icon. With 20 grand-slam titles, she is only two short of the total compiled by Steffi Graf, and four short of the all-time record of Margaret Court. With her appetite, her spirit and that incredible service, she could yet overhaul both.

THE TIMES