What to Make of Maria Sharapova’s Early Exit at the 2014 Australian Open

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: January 20, 2014

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Third-seeded Maria Sharapova's loss at the 2014 Australian Open to 20th-seeded Dominika Cibulkova is listed as an upset, but it's hardly surprising. For months, she has endured injuries and coaching changes. And as always, there is a mixed bag of media scrutiny following her to the locker room.

Her four matches at the Australian Open were part of her comeback to rebound as the top player in the world, but she has a long way to go.

There was a glimpse of trouble in her 6-3, 4-6, 10-8 second-round win over unseeded Karin Knapp. It was a draining match in scorching-hot temperatures, and the final set took nearly two hours.

So Sharapova was clearly not at her peak level, but she did show her competitive fight and mental toughness.  Given her recent months in rehabilitating her injured shoulder (which caused her to  withdraw from the 2013 U.S. Open) perhaps she overachieved to even reach the fourth round.

Sharapova's immediate postmatch comments told the Australian Open media that her loss could be considered a success.



Sharapova explained to ESPNW that her hip strain and lack of competitive match play the last several months made it difficult to play her best:

I certainly would have loved to [have played] a little bit more before playing a Grand Slam, but this is the chance that I was given. I'm smart enough to be able to take it and acknowledge that I'm still pretty lucky to be in the draw and giving myself a chance to try to win it.



But with Sharapova, there are always more angles to her losses, and her conquering opponent was more than irritated.



Cibulkova admitted that she suspected gamesmanship from Sharapova's difficulties to toss and retoss the ball on her serve, late in the match, as reported by Live Tennis:

There are many ways that you can beat a player. She knew that I am playing well. I was playing wel...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Tennis

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