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Jun 09, 2012 21:14

"I'm not sitting here and saying I'm done, because I'm far from it." ---Maria Sharapova, at the Roland Garros Final interview

My dad doesn't follow tennis, though he used to play in high school, and after watching the match today his summary was that "the other girl didn't even belong on the court with Sharapova." A lot of statistics back him up. For instance:

Sharapova scored 71 points, of which 37 (more than half!) were her own outright winners and only 11 were gifts, that is, unforced errors from Errani.

Errani scored 50 points, of which 12 were her own winners and 29 were Sharapova's unforced errors.

So, while the uninitiated might not understand a power game and start thinking that "29 unforced errors is way more than 11, Sharapova must've been playing real sloppy," the truth is that the numbers above show the game as clearly dictated by the Russian. The fact that she also managed 6 aces en route to a 6-3 6-2 victory in 89 minutes was just icing.

As you know well, I've always admired Sharapova for her champion spirit. It shows up off court in her language and the way she presents herself. It shows up on court most noticeably when she has to pull herself to the next level to win a match from behind. But there was no playing from behind this fortnight: as much chatter as there was after Serena Williams (and to a lesser extent, Victoria Azarenka) was knocked out, it is evident that Sharapova would have dominated any woman in the draw.

It was simply her tournament to win, so she did what any champion would do. She won.
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