There Are Millions of Reasons Why Maria Lost

Written by: Staff on 18th January 2010

There Are Millions of Reasons Why Maria Lost

Maria Sharapova shakes hands with Maria Kirilenko in the first round of the Australian Open. |

Don’t weep for Maria Sharapova.

Don’t shed a tear for her, the same way you didn’t cry for Serena Williams, Tiger Woods, or even Conan O’Brien. These are rich celebrities, who make more money than any of us commoners would dream about.

And in Maria’s case, she just signed an extension of her Nike deal that will net her a cool $70 million over the next eight years.

So please don’t cry for Maria after her first round loss to fellow Russian Maria Kirilenko, 7-6 3-6 6-4, on the first day of the Australian Open because she will be just fine in the pocket book.

But the court is another animal entirely. You have to wonder is the shoulder is still bothering her or if there’s something else in the midst here. Much like many tennis players before her, has Sharapova started to believe her own hype and not put in the commitment to her craft?

“I wouldn’t say it’s ‘belief,’” said Sharapova, who just went into this tournament without playing any of the leadups. “I think ‘belief’ is either something you have or you don’t have. Whether it’s just a little bit of, uhm, you know, maybe confidence, uhm, obviously it’s the first tournament of the year and, you know, I just came up against somebody that just played really good tennis. That’s just the way it goes.”

You have to wonder why Sharapova is having this crisis of confidence. After coming back from surgery, she seemed to skip many of the smaller tournaments in favor of the majors and marquee events. Instead of getting back in shape against lesser competitions, she chose to live more on reputation instead of putting the time in to get back on her game.

And maybe the endorsements are her problem. With $70 million in the bank from Nike alone, there’s no reason for her to take the chump change payday that some of these smaller venues pay. Why put in the work there for peanuts?

Yet, that short sightedness seems to have cost her. Because she hasn’t put in the time, Maria’s serve still isn’t up to par and because she doesn’t have much tournament experience these past two years, there’s just no way to perfect it.

Practice will only get you so far. These days will just continue.

“It’s a bad day and you have to get on with your life,” she said. “You know, there are many worse situations in life. There are people that don’t even know what a tennis match is in the world.”

Yet, many do and because she’s a pretty face with some success there’s no reason for her to go out there and give it her all. The endorsement deals are still coming in and Nike says she transcends sports, so why even try. And until the gravy train runs out, there’s just no need for her to commit 100 percent to tennis.

Topics: 2c, 3f, Australian Open, Chump Change, Commoners, Conan O Brien, Don T Cry, Endorsements, Getting Back In Shape, Majors, Maria Kirilenko, Maria Sharapova, Marquee Events, Nike Deal, Peanuts, Serena Williams, Short Sightedness, Tennis Players, Tiger Woods, Uhm