In truth, the 6-2 6-4 scoreline does not tell the full story of the match. Srebotnik, ranked 54 in the world, made the No 2 work hard for every game and, for more than a few moments in the 91 minutes, held the upper hand. Sharapova’s future opponents might care, for example, to note the champion’s surprising fallibility to the sliced backhand, hit low and without pace, and the erratic forehand. Both will be the subject of analysis before the serious stuff starts tomorrow.
But there was never any real whiff of an upset. If Srebotnik was exploring the furthest limits of her game in matching her opponent deep into the second set, Sharapova seemed to be playing well within herself, serving her way out of trouble when it really mattered and summoning some trademark skimming groundstrokes on the big points.
But these are interesting times for the 18-year-old. No less than a year ago, her journey through Wimbledon was an education, an exercise in managing expectation and coping with pressure. “Last year, I was really excited to be in the second week of a Grand Slam,” she said. “This year, I expect myself to be in the second week of a Grand Slam. I still feel happy to be there, no doubt about that.”
No less a commentator than Martina Navratilova has voiced her concern over the potential distractions to Sharapova’s future in the game. “Uhm, well,” Sharapova said, picking her words carefully, “I pretty much am in control of the things I focus on. I’m No 2 in the world and I don’t think so far anything has distracted me.”
Sadly for her opponents so far, Sharapova’s concentration has been unwavering, her intensity on the court unflinching. Any suggestion that she is being distracted by her ever-growing portfolio of off-court commitments would certainly have been news to Srebotnik. If there was a weakness in Sharapova’s mentality, Srebotnik would have exploited it because the Slovenian played way above her modest ranking.
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Not that the early games, played out under grey skies and in front of an embarrassingly sparse crowd on Court One yesterday, suggested the strength of Srebotnik’s later challenge. It took the champion under a quarter of an hour to break the strapping Slovenian’s opening two service games, only for Srebotnik to break back in the fourth game of the match, the first time Sharapova had been broken in the tournament. Srebotnik was beginning to vary both the pace and the angle of her groundstrokes and by the time Srebotnik had held her serve for the first time, we had the glimpse of a match.
When she could, the Slovenian drew Sharapova to the net then tried to pass or lob her. The drop shot also proved profitable, but in the context of a match played almost exclusively behind the baseline Sharapova had the better rate of exchange.
The Slovenian’s best moments coincided with her ability to flatten her own shots and force Sharapova into a desperate series of retrievals on the baseline. Sharapova was tactically cute enough to copy her opponent’s tactics, a crisply angled forehand setting up the first of three more break points in the seventh game. A drop shot woefully underhit gave Sharapova a 5-2 lead and the first set was tucked away in 45 minutes soon after.
The growing crowd expected an easier second set. Sharapova too, perhaps. Srebotnik was already in uncharted waters, having progressed to the third round of Wimbledon for the first time in six attempts. Sharapova broke to love in the fifth game of the second set, Srebotnik fought back and had three break points to level the set at 4-4 as Sharapova’s forehand went into temporary remission. An ace saved the first break point, two service winners the next two and when the champion finally held for a 5-3 lead, the fourth round beckoned.
“I thought I could have served better at the beginning of games,” Sharapova admitted. “I needed to go for a bit more because the serve didn’t have as much penetration as other days. I still got through without serving great.”
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That will be a source of real confidence for the champion as she contemplates a fourth-round match against Nathalie Dechy, the 16th seed. With Justin Henin-Hardenne removed from her half of the draw and Serena Williams out of the reckoning after her defeat last night, the route to the final seems invitingly paved with gold.