In Tuesday’s Australian Open quarterfinals, Maria Sharapova came practically nowhere near troubling world number one Serena Williams in their 21st career meeting and the American recorded her 19th straight win over the Russian, extending the streak that is more than a decade old.
Even though the fifth-seeded Maria opened the match by breaking Serena’s serve and had break points at 4-4, the overall impression was that the defending champion comfortably progressed to the tournament’s semifinals. After a tighter first set, the second set was all Serena’s, except for Maria’s late mini revival when she had break points to approach Serena to 2-5, after being down 0-5. Final score: 6-4 6-1.
Serena’s semifinal opponent at Melbourne Park will be fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska, who beat tenth seed Carla Suarez Navarro 6-1 6-3 in the first quarterfinal of the tournament.
Serena also had 40-0 and 8 break points chances on Maria’s serve.
That’s why those who keep comparing Maria to Serena need to finally wake up, deal with reality, and stop doing so. The other players should be beating Maria just as often as Serena. It’s no secret that Maria lacks variety and mobility; just move her around the court and poof, she’s gone!