By Richard Pagliaro | Tuesday, July 7, 2015
Maria Sharapova fought off CoCo Vandeweghe, 6-3, 6-7 (3), 6-2, to reach the Wimbledon semifinal for the fifth time.
Photo credit: CameraSport/Stephen White
Maria Sharapova nearly slid on a pristine green patch of line outside the doubles alley, but regained her balance and bounced right back to the chewed up center of the court to take another vicious swing.
CoCo Vandeweghe took the Russian to places she hadn't been before. But the Sharapova showed resourcefulness and ruthless shotmaking to return to the Wimbledon semifinals for the fifth time.
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Dropping a set for the first time in the tournament, Sharapova charged through the decider defeating a spirited Vandeweghe, 6-3, 6-7 (3), 6-2, to reach the final four for the first time in four years.
The 2004 Wimbledon champion will face either world No. 1 Serena Williams or 23rd-seeded Victoria Azarenka for a spot in Saturday's final.
This was the first meeting between the two power players. Sharapova was put to the test immediately by one of the few women in the world who not only matched the five-time Grand Slam champion's power, she blew her back off the baseline into defensive positions at times.
It was the Centre Court debut for the New York City born, Southern-California-raised daughter of an Olympian. Clearly, the game's grandest stage is not too big for CoCo. Vandeweghe crunched 12 more winners (32 to 20) and had three more break points, but Sharapova played cleaner on critical points points, denying 11 of the 14 break points she faced.
Playing with the confidence of one who believed she belonged, the 47th-ranked American earned a total of five break points in Sharapova's first two service games. Sharapova withstood them all. Amping up the pace of her shots and volume of her grunt, Sharapova coaxed a miss-hit backhand error, breaking for 3-1 with a firm "come on!"
Vandeweghe showed off her all-court skills, streaming forward and reflexing a beautiful angled backhand volley winner with underspin for triple break point. This time, she converted breaking back. Targeting her opponent's backhand, Sharapova broke for the second time in a row, snatching a 4-2 advantage.
Dialing in her strokes, Sharapova lasered a forehand winner down the line and followed force with finesse. A backhand drop shot winner secured the first love hold of the day, extending the lead to 5-2. The backhand down the line is Sharapova's kill shot and she hit it sharply to draw a running forehand into net and cap the opening set in 43 minutes.
Vandeweghe showed flashes of the power and all-court acumen that make her a threat to elite players. The flip side is she plays too many loose points, gives up careless errors from the center of the court, and often goes for the high-risk running winner, particularly off the forehand side, from low percentage areas of the court. The serve is Vandeweghe's biggest weapon — she surrendered serve just four times in four prior wins — but she served just 49 percent today and struggled for a reply when Sharapova smacked returns right back at her.
Still, the 23-year-old American is fearless, has the weapons to challenge anyone and isn't shy about inciting crowd participation. Vandeweghe blew a 40-0 lead, but bounced back to hold for 2-3 then windmilled her arms exhorting the Centre Court crowd to make more noise.
Stepping up to serve for the semifinals at 5-4, a skittish Sharapova caused complications. A double fault gave her opponent triple break point. She saved the first, but on the second Vandeweghe scampered up to a mid-court ball, curled a crosscourt forehand in the corner and waved her arms furiously breaking for 5-all and inciting the crowd in the process.
Under extreme pressure (and at just about any other time she steps on court, for that matter), Sharapova likes to go big. Staring down a second set point at 5-6, Sharapova shrewdly slid a 101 mph slice serve down the middle. That placement rather than pure power helped Sharapova fight through to force the tie break and another challenge: the fourth seed was winless in four tie breaks this season.
Vandeweghe, who had won all three tie breaks she played during the fortnight, sprayed a forehand to open the breaker but quickly found her range off that explosive wing. Three crushing crosscourt forehands helped her level the breaker at 3-3. She ran off the final four points of the tie break, turning her hips and shoulders into her two-hander crosscourt to snatch the second set. Both women left the court for a bathroom break.
Later, Vandeweghe explained she spoke to chair umpire Eva Asderak-Moore during the match because Sharapova's habit of bouncing around to return was distracting her on serve.
“She was moving around in the middle of my motion on my second serve,” Vandeweghe said of Sharapova. “That's why I spoke to the umpire. What I experienced, what I felt from her moving around in between my serving motion was not, I don't think, sportsmanlike, in my opinion. I try to play as fair as I can.”
A refocused Sharapova, who had never lost a Wimbledon match when winning the opening set (43-0), threw down a love hold to open the decider. Driven back by a return, Vandeweghe netted a backhand off her back foot to face a second break point. She neglected to get low for another backhand and again found the net as Sharapova broke for 2-0. This time she made the break stand.
Vandeweghe wasn't done yet using a slick backhand volley and winning a couple of longer rallies holding for 1-3. Vandeweghe has worked to improve her conditioning. If she can get even fitter, learn to play the score and construct points with more care and give herself a little bit more margin when driving the ball to the edges, Vandeweghe will be very dangerous.
Sharapova produced and ace and biting forehand to deny a pair of break points, but steered a backhand wide to face a third. Stiff-arming her normally trusty two-hander into net, the Russian dropped serve for just the third time.
One reason Sharapova took the court with a 19-3 career record in Grand Slam quarterfinals is she shakes off setbacks like lint. Blasting a backhand return, a stubborn Sharapova broke right back for 4-2. Sliding her fourth ace, Sharapova consolidated for 5-2.