Forward-thinking Maria won’t look back

 

Originally published on: 30/03/12 11:11

Maria Sharapova confessed after her Miami semi-final victory over Caroline Wozniacki that she rarely gets the chance to examine her own performances on video.
 
Asked if she ever uses past wins, such as her Wimbledon title in 2004, for inspiration, the world No.2 admitted she rarely watches videos of her own matches, even the victories. “I have patience for 10, 15 minutes, but then I’m outta there,” she said. “Of course it’s good to see those moments and to see, you know, the way you played, but I’m not so much of a person that likes to look back. I’ll have all of that to appreciate when I’m retired. I still have many more years in my career that I want to look forward to and not necessarily look back to.”
 
And she would do well not to dwell on her results in Miami so far. Despite making it to the finals in 2005, 2006 and 2011, the Russian has failed to take the title, thwarted by Kim Clijsters, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Victoria Azarenka in her previous three finals. This year she will face Agnieszka Radwanska after the Pole took out Marion Bartoli, the woman that ended Azarenka’s winning streak, in straight sets in the semis.
 
Sharapova’s semi-final match was less straightforward, with Wozniacki taking the first set and giving the second seed trouble in the third. The match ended on a sour note, Wozniacki declining to shake the umpire’s hand after an overrule on the final point that allowed Sharapova another chance to serve for the match.
 
“Against someone like Caroline you’re not going to get too many free points,” the Russian admitted. “She always retrieves so many balls back. She makes you hit a lot. I think it’s more important to be aggressive in the rally and off of the return, and look for the spots and maybe get an opportunity to go for the second shot instead of trying to hit bombs against someone that is a good returner that’s gonna make you hit a lot of balls.”

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