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French Open 2012: Maria Sharapova Poised for Success at Roland Garros Again
Published: May 23, 2012
One says "relative" only because Sharapova's main rival and tormentor in the months before—World No. 1 Victoria Azarenka—has only played a secondary role in events on clay. The Belarusian, who won the Australian Open in January and Indian Wells in March, dominated Sharapova in both finals.
It seemed like more of the same would carry over onto the clay.
But a slightly incapacitated Azarenka and a change of surface facilitated a Sharapova victory in the Stuttgart final at a point when many had come to think of their three matches in 2012 as the beginnings of a new rivalry in women's tennis.
Since her win in Germany, Sharapova has emerged as something of a front-runner on clay heading into the French Open—a status most recently confirmed by her victory in Rome. Most significantly, it was a win over the defending French Open champion, Li Na—the woman who last year had thwarted her ambitions of winning a maiden title at Paris in the semifinals.
Admittedly she had some supernatural assistance, with the rain holding off play and delaying Li's almost irresistible march to victory, as she led by a set and 4-0. With customary grit, Sharapova fought back and successfully defended her championship of 2011, 7-6 in the third.
However, one ought not forget Serena Williams amidst such a tale of heroism. The 13-time grand slam champion stands with just as good, if not an even better claim, to French Open favoritism. Were it not for her withdrawal at Rome, she could well have faced Sharapova in the final and inflicted on her another humiliating thrashing in a replay of her wins at Charleston and Madrid (where she did outclass fairly convincingly both Azarenka and Sharapova).
Williams is coming back like clockwork, just when the biggest prize...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Tennis
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