Будет ли доминировать Мария?

ESPN открыл дискуссию на тему "будет ли Шарапова доминировать женский теннис как номер 1?"

Есть и онлайн опрос. Пока 69% отвечают на вопрос положительно "будет".

Свои мнения выложили и комментаторы ESPN Joanne Gerstner и Greg Garber.

Вот они.

 

ДА, БУДЕТ:

Sharapova has too much drive

By Joanne Gerstner

ESPNW.com

PARIS -- Greg, women's tennis doesn't have a drought of talent. You can look to nearly every continent on the planet to find an active player who's won a Grand Slam or major tournament.

But what tennis needs is what Maria Sharapova is ready to offer: a dominant No. 1. The churn at the top of tennis, with no No. 1 able to keep a respected grip on the lofty perch, dulls public enthusiasm. Having one of the world's most famous athletes also be the best in her sport, means advantage Sharapova, and by proxy, women's tennis.

Sharapova, who just won her first French Open and became the 10th woman in the sport's history to win all four Grand Slams, is the right woman at the right time. She's mentally tough, proving her resilience coming back from career-threatening shoulder surgery in 2009. Her ranking went from being No. 1 to below the top-100 threshold by 2010.

She had to fight to get her game back, and she is not taking her return to greatness lightly. I talked with Sharapova about two hours after her win and asked her what's driving the rest of her now-legendary career. She has everything she could have dreamed of: amassing a huge fortune, her piece of tennis immortality by having all the Grand Slam titles, close ties with family, and now, her health and career restored.

"I'm motivated by wanting to be the very best I can be," Sharapova, 25, said. "I'm not satisfied with where I am, I want to keep going, keep getting better every day. The day I don't want to get better is the day I retire."

And Sharapova's sharply honed sense of maturity and clarity about why she is playing, and wants to keep winning, clearly shows what was missing from former recent No. 1s such as Ana Ivanovic, Jelena Jankovic, Dinara Safina, Caroline Wozniacki and Victoria Azarenka. They were just playing and hopefully winning. Sharapova wants to keep winning and be the game's top dominant force, and that will make her the woman who stays on top with the most authority.

 

НЕТ, НЕ БУДЕТ:

Women's tennis just too unstable

By Greg Garber

ESPN.com

PARIS -- Joanne, it happens every year at Roland Garros.

For five straight tournaments here, we've seen a first-time champion minted: Ana Ivanovic, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Francesca Schiavone, Li Na -- and now, Maria Sharapova. Victory on the red clay, though, does not guarantee any kind of dominance going forward.

When was the last time any of the first four inspired fear or awe in an opponent?

Let's review how the No. 1 ranking has bounced around in the breeze since Sharapova was last atop the rankings:

Sharapova was No. 1 (for the fourth different time) for three weeks in the spring of 2008. Then, Serbians Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic rose to No. 1 for a total of 30 weeks. Serena Williams would make four visits to the summit in a period of two years, trading places with -- of all people -- Dinara Safina, who spent 25 weeks in the No. 1 spot. And then there was the reign of the late, great Caroline Wozniacki, a brief visit from Kim Clijsters and then, of course, a good run this year by Victoria Azarenka.

And now, Joanne, we are back to Sharapova.

True, this title at Roland Garros was the most difficult one in her career Grand Slam matched set. True, the grass at Wimbledon and the unforgiving hard courts of the U.S. Open suit her power game much better. But women's tennis is an unstable organism. Whoever's winning, the saying goes, is probably going to lose.

I was impressed with Sharapova's run here. I liked what I heard in her final news conference: "I proved that no matter how many punches I took in my career, I've always gotten up."

She is a fighter, but I feel like she was fortunate here. She never had to face Serena Williams, who has always been a sticky wicket for her, or Azarenka, for that matter. Both of them, in addition to Petra Kvitova, the defending champion, should be bigger factors at Wimbledon. The way things are going, the winner of the tournament will have the inside track on No. 1 -- and we'll be wondering if that newly anointed champion is going to dominate.