Perhaps, Maria Sharapova had an ulterior motive when she announced at the end of last season that she no longer was gunning for the No. 1 ranking.
The queen of never-say-die spirit on the court might have been conceding the fact that she'll never be the top-ranked women's player in the world, as long as Serena Williams still is playing.
Did giving up the chase for No. 1 help Maria Sharapova close the gap on Serena Williams?
Two separate reports talked about Sharapova's seeming resignation that Serena Williams is a more athletic and simply better player than she is.
The Guardian examined Sharapova's comments after Williams' 6-3, 7-6 in the finals of the Australian Open last weekend for Serena's 19th Grand Slam title and 16th consecutive victory over her "rival," Sharapova.
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"No matter how you played, well or not, whatever the scoreline is, it's always tough," Sharapova was quoted as saying after the match. But it will be all right."
The Guardian interpreted her words as, "There is probably a clever psychological term for that but, in simple terms, it hurtles on from denial toward acceptance of the inevitable. In practical tennis-speak, Sharapova nailed it, though. She was, after all, aced 18 times in an hour and 51 minutes, the last of them the final shot of the contest after another that had been ruled a let."
Tennis.com's Steve Tignor jumped on a similar theme when he saw Williams and Sharapova on the same court for the first time since March of 2014.
"Serena and Maria hadn't played since last March, which was long enough to make me forget just how superior the American is an athlete, and as a tennis player. Against everyone else, Sharapova dominates the scene with her power and her presence; against Serena, she suddenly looks overwhelmed, reactive, inflexible, and much less natural and versatile in her movements."
Which led Tignor to translate another Sharapova quote:
"She's great at making players hit that shot that you don't necessarily have to go for," Sharapova said.
And Tignor's interpretation?
"The first step to solving a problem is to know that you have one, right?
"But what if there's no solution available? By the end of the first set, as Sharapova's shots caught the tape and skidded wide of the sidelines, her words no longer sounded like a healthy realization of what she needed to change; they sounded like a self-fulfilling prophecy. How do you solve a problem like Serena?"
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