Maria Sharapova’s flawless night-time record at the Arthur Ashe stadium has been ruined following her loss to Spain’s Carla Suarez Navarro at the US Open.
The former world No.1 entered the clash winning 23 consecutive matches played at night at the premier stadium at Flushing Meadows. Despite being only ranked marginally higher than Suarez Navarro (22 to 24), Sharapova was the bookmakers favourites to win. However, a lacklustre service performance that featured six breaks and 38 unforced errors was too costly against a player of Suarez Navarro’s calibre. Who prevailed 6-4, 6-3.
“I think not being able to consistently put up the level from one match to another, stringing obviously in a span of hopefully a total of seven matches during a Grand Slam. It’s just a little too up and down.” Sharapova commented about the current state of her game.
Earlier in the tournament, Sharapova looked on course for a deep run. In the third round she dropped only five games against 10th seed Jelena Ostapenko. A performance that granted the Russian her third win over a top 10 player this season. Nevertheless, consistency appears to be an Achilles heel for the world No.22, who is yet to find a solution to the problem.
“I think if I did (find a solution) immediately, I’d be able to change that around immediately.” She said.
“I think it’s always a work in progress, reevaluation, and always looking ahead.”
Returning to the tour in April 2017 following a 15-month doping ban, Sharapova is yet to regain the dominance on the tour that she once had. Since her comeback, her only taste of success occurred at the Tianjin Open in China last October. In the grand slams, her best run was to the last eight of this year’s French Open.
Despite her up and down form, the 31-year-old remains confident that she can return back to her very best. A high expectation for a player who won five grand slam titles between 2004-2014.
“I didn’t have the belief to keep doing this and to keep having the motivation and the grind of doing this every day in order to get myself in these positions, I don’t think I would be here.” Stated Sharapova. “I think I’ve done plenty in my career, established a lot for myself personally, professionally.”
“The belief is not something that I’m eager to show everybody else. The belief matters most when its internal and when you have a passion for something. If you don’t, it’s your choice to not continue that, not for anyone else to tell you so.”
Despite her loss to Suarez Navarro, Sharapova has opted to focus on the wider picture. Asked during her Monday night press conference if the defeat represented the toughest period of her career, she swiftly dismissed the motion.
“What’s challenging is when you’re a teenager and you have a few hundred dollars and you’ve got no sense of the future, you don’t know where you’re going to end up.” She replied.
“You just have a dream. I think that’s a lot tougher than being 31 years old and having the opportunity to do whatever I want in my life.”
As Sharapova leaves New York, Suarez Navarro will take on Madison Keys in what will be her first US Open quarter-final since 2013.
