THERE are all sorts of changes taking place in women’s tennis, not least that Serena Williams is heading towards No 40 in the world and is no doubt pondering whether her great friend, Oprah Winfrey, is seeking a regular stand-in. Back in the real-ish world, they have found a sponsor — Sony Ericsson — willing to invest £50 million into a sport in which Nadia Petrova is a grand-slam accident waiting to happen.
Petrova spent seven years on the tour, the past four inside the top 15, waiting to win her first title (Linz, 2005) and is now into the quarter-finals of the Australian Open where, tomorrow, she plays Maria Sharapova. It would be an interesting event anyway but given that when they met in Los Angeles two years ago, Yuri Sharapova, Maria’s father, threatened to dump Petrova’s coach into a dustbin, it would appear to have a distinct edge.
The spectre of Damir Dokic and fellow fathers who should stay at home is never far removed from the sport. Yuri was placidity personified last night when his 18-year-old daughter defeated Daniela Hantuchova, of Slovakia, 6-4, 6-4 to reach the last eight of this championship for the second year in succession. There is no doubt that Hantuchova had never been better prepared to beat Sharapova — she looked good, she was playing well, her preparation was as thorough as it could have been but even all of these do not protect you from the awesome self-confidence that is the byword for Sharapova’s place on court.
Hantuchova, who had beaten Williams in the third round, led by a break of serve in both sets but she could see neither out. The plan was to target the Sharapova forehand, which is by far the weaker of the Russian’s wings. Unfortunately, this time, Sharapova was in better control of the stroke than Hantuchova and her entourage had anticipated.
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At 2-0 in the first set and 3-0 in the second, it seemed that Hantuchova might be able to extend Sharapova and she struck enough groundstrokes deep enough to give a lot of players trouble. But when she has her back to the wall Sharapova tends to dig deeper, she ran around her more suspect forehand more than Hantuchova would have anticipated and punched the air with her succession of winners.
It may not have have helped Hantuchova to have required strapping to her left thigh after five games of the second set, although, in truth, she had begun to wilt by then. “I had my chances, definitely,” she said. “In the second set at 3-0, I was really getting into it but because of the pull my movement was not as good. But I’m taking home some very nice memories. Today I was very close but it showed a few things I need to work on. I must be more patient.”
Sharapova was asked if playing under the roof had posed any different problems. “You definitely hear the ball differently,” she said, “but I kept my composure. Today was one of the hottest days I’ve ever experienced. I think for the players it would make our lives a lot easier if the event was held a little later in the year.
“When you come into a grand slam without having played any matches you don’t know how you’re going to feel and hope for the best.”
It should not be that way.