Compared to last year's Australian Open opportunity against Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova appears to have much less of a chance to finally break through against the world's No. 1.
Which could be the rallying cry Sharapova needs to shock her nemesis.
Media Tries To Provoke Serena Williams After Second-Round Victory
No. 1-seeded Williams and No. 5 Sharapova will meet in the quarterfinals at the Australian Open on Tuesday (Monday night in America), which is a shame because the Grand Slam event doesn't adhere to the true seeding setup in which the top-seeded player would take on the No. 8 seed in the quarters.
When the two met in the finals in Melbourne last year, pundits surmised the match was Maria's best chance to end her decade-plus-long losing streak to Serena, who had a pair of three-set matches during the event. Williams was fresh off winning the season-ending WTA Finals, but also suffered one of her worst losses ever in the round-robin portion to Simona Halep 6-0, 6-2.
First-Round Match Shows Knee Problems Aren't Bothering Serena
Sharapova played a strong match but still lost 6-3, 7-6 (5).
This year, Williams has played as if on a mission following her U.S. Open semifinal loss to Roberta Vinci. Serena has not had any of those tense, early round matches that lasted three sets -- the ones that plagued her on a regular basis last year.
The knee injury that forced Serena out the last quarter of 2015 and her first matches at the 2016 Hopman Cup? A distant memory.
But it's been awhile since the two have played so early in a tournament -- four years, in fact.
Williams has been known to tighten up on occasion (against Vinci, for example) and she said there's as much pressure on her to continue her dominance of Sharapova -- she's won 17 straight against Masha and has a 18-2 record overall -- as there is on Sharapova to get the monkey off her back.
"I think the person who's winning could definitely feel the pressure because there is a lot of expectations. The person who is losing, well, I have lost X amount in a row; I don't have anything to lose," Williams said, according to theaustralian.com.au. "But in this situation, I don't have anything to lose because I'm just here -- every tournament for me is just a bonus at this point in my career. So it's an interesting place to be at."
Sharapova, however, had 21 aces against Belinda Bencic in the fourth round, her most since the WTA began recording aces in 2008, according to The New York Times.
So what, countered USA Today Sports. Part of the reason Sharapova's big serve has failed to affect Serena is that Maria's serve resembles that of Venus, making it easier for Serena to read.
But that doesn't mean Sharapova's not going to go back to the drawing board.
"It's not like I think about what I can do worse," Sharapova said, according to The Australian. You're always trying to -- always trying to improve. I got myself into the quarter-final of a grand slam. There is no reason I shouldn't be looking to improve and to getting my game in a better position than any other previous round. It's only going to be tougher, especially against Serena."
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