ESPN: The rivalry that never happened (Serena Williams-Maria Sharapova)

[marmar]

(ESPN) Maria Sharapova is looking at a scenario that even Roger Federer, in the darkest moments of his rivalry with Rafael Nadal, hasn't had to contemplate. Her legacy may be dominated by the fact she can't compete with Serena Williams.

At least Federer can say that Nadal's advantage, and superior head-to-head, was contained to clay. Sharapova, it seems, is hard put to compete Williams on any surface, at any time and place.

That's one of the major takeaways after the end of the Madrid combined event. (The other is that Rafael Nadal is as close as humanly possible to being unbeatable on clay. Yawn.) Much was made before Sunday's final between No. 1 Williams and No. 2 Sharapova. Partly because the top ranking was up for grabs, and partly because of the great strides Sharapova has made in her clay-court game.

Sharapova, we were often reminded, brought a 17-match clay-court streak into the final. (And she'd won 27 of her previous 28 clay matches, which includes her win at the 2012 French Open.) Meanwhile, Williams hadn't won a tournament in red clay in more than a decade (2002). Some pundits conveniently forgot that Williams herself was 28-1 on clay of any color or texture, starting from the beginning of 2010. ..................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://espn.go.com/tennis/blog/_/name/bodo_peter/id/9268370/tennis-maria-sharapova-just-compete-serena-williams-saw-again-madrid-open

[bigwillq]

1. Serena is indeed the best!