Russian Onslaught
Illawarra Mercury
Thursday July 1, 2004
LONDON.- Lindsay Davenport has the experience, but teenage starlet Maria Sharapova believes she has the youthful ambition to make this year's Wimbledon final.
Sharapova, who at just 17 reached her first grand slam semifinal with a brave fight back against Japan's Ai Sugiyama on Tuesday, is ready to take the next step.Standing in the young Russian's way however, is Davenport, the 1999 champion who is 11 years her senior. "I'm going to try," said Sharapova when asked if she could make the final. "That's what I'm here for and I want to win this tournament, I want it very bad. When you have a big passion for something and you want to achieve something, I'm going to give it my all, definitely." But the precociously talented youngster, with the grace and poise of a supermodel, was also full of respect for her American opponent, who hinted that this could be her last tournament at the All England Club. "We both hit a pretty powerful ball, both have a pretty good serve," said the statuesque blonde. "She's a great champion. One word about her, she's won this tournament. And I want this tournament, so it's going to be interesting." Speaking after her one-sided quarterfinal win over Croatia's Karolina Sprem, Davenport, 28, sprung a surprise by confirming comments from John McEnroe that she could be playing her last Wimbledon. "There's probably a good chance that's the case. But nothing definitive," she replied when asked about the comments. "I plan in my mind, no matter what, to play out this year and then go over it in my mind again. "I'll be facing my toughest opponent yet in the next round here, someone that hits very hard and can take me out of the game. I'm going to try to do that to her first." The 1999 Wimbledon champion, one of the tallest women players to have competed at the top level at over 1.89m, has had a torrid time in the last two years with injuries to her knees and feet. While Davenport shot past Croatian surprise packet Karolina Sprem 6-2 6-2 to reach the semis, Sharapova had a far more difficult encounter with Sugiyama, clawing her way back from a set down to win 5-7 7-5 6-1 in just over two hours. But Sharapova believes her game has peaked at the right time. She made it through to the quarterfinals of last month's French Open and then claimed victory on grass in Birmingham as the perfect warm-up to this event."Coming off with a title in Birmingham and knowing that this is one of my favourite surfaces, this is where my game sometimes comes together," she said. "So I was very happy that it came together today."
© 2004 Illawarra Mercury
