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NEW YORK - Maria Sharapova began the U.S. Open with as much buzz about her sponsorships as her strokes, as much talk about her getups as her game.
She’s long insisted she’s more about substance than style, though, and now she owns a second Grand Slam title to prove it.
Better on the biggest points all night, the third-seeded Sharapova beat No. 2 Justine Henin-Hardenne 6-4, 6-4 in the U.S. Open final Saturday to add a follow-up championship to her breakthrough title at Wimbledon in 2004.
“I experienced it two years ago, and I knew that I wasn’t done,” Sharapova said. “I had a lot more in me.”
What Sharapova had on this night was a lot more force on nearly every shot, from groundstrokes to serves to returns. She faced only one break point all match, broke Henin-Hardenne three times, and compiled a 20-15 edge in winners.
“She’s been a real fighter tonight,” said Henin-Hardenne, who would have moved up to No. 1 with a victory. “The better player won tonight.”
Quite a concession from the Belgian, who leads the tour this season in matches won (54), Grand Slam matches won (25) and tournament titles (five). She was the first woman since Martina Hingis in 1997 to reach a year’s four major finals.
“She didn’t give me a lot of opportunities,” Henin-Hardenne said.
The only times Sharapova lost her composure came after Henin-Hardenne put a forehand into the net to end the match.
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First, Sharapova dropped to her knees and covered her face. Then she hopped up and down, giggling — like the teenager she is. Then she tried to climb through the stands to hug her father, Yuri, and hitting partner, Mike Joyce, but got lost, and needed guidance from an usher. When she hoisted the trophy overhead, its lid fell off.
And then came her at-times petulant postmatch news conference, which Sharapova began by saying, “Let’s make this a positive session tonight, please. Por favor.” She got into a bit of a testy exchange with reporters who asked about the apparent signals sent by Yuri and Joyce about when to eat bananas or sip drinks at changeovers (coaching isn’t allowed).
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“I believe, at the end of the day, personally, my life is not about a banana,” Sharapova said.
“It’s not about what I wear. It’s not about the friends that I have. My career right now is about winning a tennis match. And right now, I’m sitting here as a U.S. Open champion, and the last thing I think people need to worry about is a banana.”
She became an immediate endorsement darling after her out-of-nowhere triumph at the All England Club at age 17. But then, on the court, she kept coming oh-so-close at Slams without producing title No. 2. She lost five consecutive major semifinals until beating No. 1 Amelie Mauresmo on Friday. Now Sharapova is only the eighth woman to beat the players ranked Nos. 1 and 2 at the same Grand Slam tournament.
“I think she felt a little pressure. People were talking like she didn’t have her Slam,” Joyce said. “It was just a matter of time. I think she had to prove to herself that she could do it.”
If that’s so, she proved it to everyone under the lights at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
The United States completed a 5-0 rout of Switzerland in the Davis Cup on Sunday, with 19-year-old Ryan Harrison and John Isner winning closing singles matches.
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Wesseling: Each NFL team enters the offseason with a series of pressing needs. Sometimes a team can address them all, sometimes they ignore them all. But if a team's smart, they'll listen to us. These are the most crucial aspects for AFC teams.
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Silva: Each NFL team enters the offseason with a series of pressing needs. Sometimes a team can address them all, sometimes they ignore them all. But if a team's smart, they'll listen to us. These are the most crucial aspects for NFC teams.
