Sharapova lets natural instincts take over in win

Published on Monday 5 July 2004 11:51

RUSSIAN youngster Maria Sharapova produced one of the memorable moments in sporting history with her fairytale Wimbledon triumph - but do not ask her how she did it!

The 17-year-old from Siberia melted the hearts of the Centre-Court crowd with a 6-1, 6-4 victory over two-time champion Serena Williams before collapsing in a heap of fits and giggles.

The American former world No.1 had no answer to the brutal groundstrokes of Sharapova, who relied on natural instincts rather than a set plan to bring her a first Grand Slam title.

"To tell you the truth, I did not have a big tactic going into the match," she admitted. "I did not see her play throughout these two weeks." As the new pin-up of women’s tennis made the now traditional dash to the players’ box to embrace her father Yuri and then held up the presentation ceremony to make futile attempts to reach her Florida-based mother Yelena on a mobile phone, her mind flashed back to the sacrifices made by her family to get her career up and running.

An only child, Sharapova was taken to the famous Nick Bollettieri academy in Florida at the age of seven after a tip-off by Martina Navratilova.

Navratilova had spotted the potential of a six-year-old Sharapova during an exhibition in Moscow but it took the nous of Bollettieri and his expert team of coaches to harness the raw talent.

And it was amid the harsh regime of Bradenton that the young Russian discovered the desire to win and a single-minded determination to reach her goals.

The Bollettieri staff provided Sharapova with the tools but it was her own natural instincts that enabled her to reach the heights at Wimbledon.

"I play a lot with instinct," she admitted.

"I always have. Of course, you have to know your opponent’s weaknesses and strengths, what you can do best against them.

"But throughout my whole career, I have always just gone out and played with instincts.

"That is just the way I am. I am a very tough person when I go on court and I really don’t want to lose."

The future now holds no bounds for Sharapova, who is determined not to allow her sudden stardom to get in the way of her soaring career.

"Wimbledon is my favourite and I would love to win it many more times but I would also like to win all the other Grand Slams," she said.

While Wimbledon witnessed the arrival of a new star, with perfect symmetry, it also bade farewell to two former champions.

Lindsay Davenport announced she would not be returning to the All England Club following her semi-final defeat by Sharapova and Navratilova finally said her goodbye at the age of 47.

Navratilova, who hailed the emergence of Sharapova as "the best thing that could have happened to women’s tennis", bowed out after failing to break Billie Jean King’s record of 20 Wimbledon titles.