SHARAPOVA EYES SINGAPORE & FED CUP
WTA Insider Courtney Nguyen
Maria Sharapova retired from her first match since Wimbledon at the Wuhan Open, citing a left forearm injury. Sharapova hopes to be back next week in Beijing, but the WTA Finals and Fed Cup Final is top priority.
Published September 28, 2015 12:12
Sharapova began to feel pain in her forearm at the beginning of the second set and it worsened as the match went on. Her backhand began to lose power and she was relegated to either bunting the ball back in play or hitting backhand slices.
"I just don't think it's smart to continue trying to run around the court and trying to hit forehands from the backhand side and compensate other things," Sharapova said. "I haven't played a match in many months. Obviously, I guess this is the consequence of that."
Sharapova is scheduled to play the China Open next week where she is the defending champion, but her participation is now uncertain. She has her eye on the WTA Finals in Singapore as well as Russia's Fed Cup final against the Czech Republic in Prague.
"Obviously Singapore and Fed Cup are a big priority for myself," Sharapova said. "I'll do everything in order to be healthy for that. I don't know how long it will take for this to recover so I can't really give a definite answer about next week."
Despite the retirement, Sharapova remained positive. "I've had my fair share of serious injuries, and I know that this is far from it, something that I just have to take care of."
Monday's injury is yet another in a string of minor but ill-timed injuries and illness that have derailed Sharapova's momentum this season. After a strong start, winning Brisbane and advancing to the Australian Open final, Sharapova suffered a left leg injury in practice before the Miami Open and was forced to withdraw from Russia's Fed Cup tie in her hometown of Sochi.
After recovering from the injury, she came into the French Open to defend her title in good form, having won Rome and making the semifinals in Madrid. But illness plagued her in Paris and she considered it a minor miracle that she was able to make her first Wimbledon semifinal since 2011. Then came yet another leg injury, this time to her right leg, which left Sharapova out of the North American hard court season and the US Open.
"I was really happy to be back on the court," Sharapova said. "I've gone through the injury and not playing and missing a Grand Slam, going through the rehab, going through training, this is really the moment that you work for. Certainly you lose a little bit of hand‑eye coordination, the quickness, the recovery. Nothing matches the actual atmosphere of playing in a match. So everything is a little bit new.
"I enjoyed that feeling again. That's why it's unfortunate to have to stop from that because you always build and you get the rust out and you hope you grow as the tournament goes along. But not in my case this tournament."
Sharapova's retirement put an end to what was shaping up to be a feisty fight to the finish against Strycova. The three months of rust was evident in her composure during the big points. Sharapova served for the first set at 5-3, only to squander five set points -- she had the set on her racquet with a forehand three feet from the net that she missed -- to give back the break. But she rolled to a 6-0 lead in the tiebreak and secured the set by taking the tiebreaker 7-1.
"I think the biggest part is also keeping your concentration as the set goes on and keeping your focus," Sharapova said. "That's something that in practice you can take a break or you're having a little letdown, you speak to your coach, you kind of go through that. In a match like that, it's not an option. It's great because you have to face it and you have to force yourself to get through those moments."
"I thought it was a good two sets," Strycova said. "Unfortunately it's sad that Maria couldn't finish the match because I thought it was a really good match. Especially like the first set tiebreak wasn't really good for me, but I hang in there with her. It's really tough. She's playing very powerful tennis, very long balls, so it wasn't easy for me. But I hung in there."
Strycova dug out of 0-30 in her first service game of the second set and the hold seemed to stabilize her game. She relied on her defense to force Sharapova to hit extra balls and kept her composure when she was broken in the seventh game. Strycova broke right back and as Sharapova began to struggle with her strokes, Stryova pounced in the tiebreaker.
"I didn't notice anything [about the injury] until the tiebreak of the second set," Strycova said. "But I felt like we were both a little bit tired because the first set took very long. But I didn't change anything in the second set. I just kept telling myself, Hang in there and be on your legs, move well, because it's very important against these players to move well. First two balls to put inside the court. So I kept telling myself these things."
Strycova will play either CoCo Vandeweghe or Caroline Garcia in the third round.
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