Sharapova And New Coach Connors Split

Written by: Bob Larson Tennis on 19th August 2013

Sharapova And New Coach Connors Split

epa03761545 Maria Sharapova of Russia gives a press conference following defeat at the hands of Michelle Larcher De Brito of Portugal in their second round match for the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, in London, Britain, 26 June 2013. EPA/AELTC / Chris Raphael |

There are the long standing coach/player relationships and there are the short-lived partnerships but that between Maria Sharapova and Jimmy Connors will take some beating in terms of brevity after the two multiple Grand Slam champions parted ways after just one match.

Technically, the pair actually spent just over a month working together after Sharapova named 60 year-old Connors as her coach in succession to Thomas Hogstedt on July 13. But in terms of competitive outings, the world no.3’s second round loss to Sloane Stephens at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati, was her only match playing under the guidance of Connors who previously coached Andy Roddick.

Sharapova, whose collection of four Grand Slam singles titles was exactly half of Connors’ career haul, took time to reflect after her error strewn 2-6, 7-6, 6-3 defeat by world no.15 Stephens last Tuesday. But after The Times of London initially reported the news, she admitted in a statement: “It’s not the right fit for this time in my career.”

According to Max Eisenbud, Sharapova’s longtime IMG agent, the relationship was not jelling in the few weeks they worked together following Wimbledon.

“It’s not the right fit at this time in her career,” said Eisenbud who added Sharapova is now likely to prepare for and contest the U.S. Open that begins in New York next Monday, August 26, without a coach. Former hitting partner Vladimir Voltchkov could fill in on a temporary basis.

Sharapova and Connors worked together in Los Angeles for a fortnight before heading to Cincinnati. She was attempting to recover from an injured left hip suffered in a fall at Wimbledon and was forced to pull out of scheduled tournaments at Stanford and Toronto

Connors was clearly not expecting such a quick termination to the liaison that took many by surprise. After witnessing the defeat by Stephens he wrote on Twitter: “Every good round starts with a bogey – not the start we wanted, so back to work tomorrow.”

There is much conjecture that it was Sharapova’s father Yuri who was the force behind the hiring of Connors and he in turn was presented with the task of making the telephone call that fired the winner of five US Open men’s singles titles.

Yuri has not traveled with his daughter, apparently at her insistence, since she underwent shoulder surgery in October 2008 but he has remained a forceful verbal guide to her playing career.

Sharapova made a hasty retreat to the waiting Yuri at her home in Florida after saying: “I’m planning on playing a lot of matches in New York, and just for the body it’s tough to play a week before if you’re planning on doing extremely well in that event.”

And she shrugged off the invitation of a wild card to play this week’s New Haven Open in a bid to get some apparently needed match practice by saying: “I’ve just never done it in my career, so why start now?”