Edward Linsmier for The New York Times
Maria Sharapova's new physiotherapist, Jérôme Bianchi, warming up her shoulder before a training session early this month. She said she could serve without pain after trying different treatments.
BRADENTON, Fla. — What can be learned over a long December lunch with Maria Sharapova, in a nearly empty Italian chain restaurant where the waiters try to play it cool as they refill the drinks without asking her to autograph the coasters?
The most significant tennis news is that she says she can serve without pain after trying platelet-rich plasma injections, shock-wave therapy and other treatments for her ailing right shoulder in an unsuccessful bid to play at this year's United States Open.
But there was much more to discuss for a woman with a new coach, Sven Groeneveld; fresh challenges as a candy mogul and a television commentator for the Winter Olympics; and an old, deeply daunting problem still left to solve in Serena Williams.
"Absolutely, I'm glad she exists," Sharapova said when asked if it was good, even with the defeats and the personal friction, that Williams was still there to remind her of just how sharp and healthy she needs to be to resume winning Grand Slam tournaments.
Sharapova made one other point particularly clear between spoonfuls of lentil soup and forkfuls of mahi-mahi. Despite the apparent distractions, despite the millions in the bank and the impression that she might be spreading herself a bit thin, it is the forehands and the backhands and above all the victories that still matter most at age 26.
She insists that her competitive drive, the source of so many gutsy victories and polarizing shrieks, is intact.
"I don't think I would form a new team together and that I would go through the efforts of trying to come back if I didn't have it," she said, her slightly sleepy eyes flashing as she leaned into the table. "It's a lot of work, a lot of work, and I wouldn't be doing it if I didn't feel strongly about what my goals are and what I feel I can accomplish."
She said that juggling a broad portfolio, which now includes her own candy and accessory company, Sugarpova, was nothing new.
"All these other things, these commitments, I've had since I was 18," Sharapova said. "There's so many, and for the two years I was coming back after shoulder surgery and the full year on tour before I won the French Open, I was working on Sugarpova when no one had any idea what I was doing because no one knew about the company."
An Underdog Again
Sharapova, who missed the last two months of the 2013 season because of her injury, has been No. 1 and has won all four Grand Slam singles titles. But she is now No. 4 and back to being an underdog with a suspect shoulder as she and the 32-year-old Williams prepare for the season-opening Brisbane International, in Australia, in two weeks.
For the moment, after extensive European travels in search of medical counsel and in support of her boyfriend, Grigor Dimitrov, Sharapova is back to shuttling between her homes in Longboat Key, on the west coast of Florida, and in Manhattan Beach, Calif.
After resuming practice in late October, she used low-pressure balls at first for serving, finally playing her first practice set in late November followed by a three-set exhibition Dec. 6 against Ana Ivanovic in Bogotá, Colombia.
"I've been there in much tougher times, and I came back and I got through it," she said, referring to her shoulder surgery in 2008. "I know this is far from as serious as it was before, so that's a huge thing."
Lunch in Bradenton came between practices. Sharapova returned to the court in the afternoon at the nearby IMG Academy to work with Groeneveld, her new coach.
The academy, an increasingly imposing multisports complex, is where Sharapova arrived from Russia with her father, Yuri, at age 7 as an outsider with no invitation, knowing only a few words of English, including "cat." But she is now one of the success symbols for the academy's hundreds of full-time student-athletes who can see her on huge posters and, on occasion, in person.
Groeneveld is one of the most experienced and respected coaches in the women's game, having worked with former Grand Slam champions like Mary Pierce and Ivanovic. In 2006, he left the precarious role of a private coach for a more secure option: coaching payers who were under contract with Adidas.
But that role ended this year. "I'm still a consultant, but the program was over for me," Groeneveld said. "I have my academy. I have my other ventures. I have an online platform for video analysis, and I was going to focus on that. But then this came along, and I couldn't pass it up."
A New Team
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
Sharapova Is Back in the Game and as Driven as Ever
Dengan url
http://suporterfanatikos.blogspot.com/2013/12/sharapova-is-back-in-game-and-as-driven.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
Sharapova Is Back in the Game and as Driven as Ever
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
Sharapova Is Back in the Game and as Driven as Ever
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar