Davenport and Sharapova to face off
It was critical then for Sharapova to reestablish herself, so she competed as if it was the US Open final and after pulling out an emotional 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 win, she celebrated wildly.Davenport was none too pleased at the time and let Sharapova’s camp know so later on.
“I know she’s a little bit dramatic when she wins,” Davenport said. “I know that’s her bag. I know sometimes she runs into the stands so I figured I would shake the umpire’s hand. I wasn’t mad or anything.”
When the two face off in the second round of the Australian Open on Wednesday, that memory will be pushed far back in the attic. They respect each other and know each other fairly well, as they were taught as juniors by the same coach, Robert Lansdorp, and live fairly close to each other in Southern California. They don’t run in the exact same circles, but their coaches and hitting partners are very familiar with each other (Davenport’s coach, Adam Peterson, went to UCLA and Sharapova’s coach, Michael Joyce, is a Santa Monica native). They are both IMG clients and their agents, Tony Godsick and Max Eisenbud, are friends.
But they are at radically different places in their careers. While Davenport was awakened by her son Jagger’s nightmares at 5 a.m. on Monday morning, Sharapova was sound asleep.
Maybe someday Sharapova can imagine rocking her child back to sleep and then hitting the practice court, but not now. Not when her mind is set firmly on reestablishing herself as a Grand Slam threat.
“We’re in completely different stages in our career,” Sharapova said. ” Obviously she loves tennis very much. It’s obviously very difficult to have a baby and be back so soon. Her love and passion for the sport is pretty great. It’s wonderful to see someone who has already accomplished so much, still going back and giving it all she has.”
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I’m not thinking Davenport has a great chance here unless Sharapova is having a bad ay, which we’ve all seen happen.
