Having woken up at 4 A.M. to watch what I thought would be a tussle,I must say I was left amazed and in total shock.Never before have I seen Serena play like she did today.

She was a woman possessed.She OBLITERATED Sharapova into Oblivion.She hit winner after winner after winner.It was a performance that I believe deserves an Oscar.Her movement,her serve,that drop volley was amazing. :bow: :bow: I still am speechless!

I think reading what Sharapova said in her interview must have fired Serena up.Because she looked like she hated Sharapova and played the tennis to kill her an was made worse when Masha almost hit her with the ball.I really think after watching Serena today that she really doesnt like her!

Congratulations Serena.May thi year see you rise back to where you belong,thats number 1 in the world and may your win Inspire Venus to return to the top flight as well.This is the beginning of order being restored in the WTA and the end of the pretenders in that top 10.

Thoughts anyone!

Ok.........ok.............What the hell!?!?!

My tv station had it sheduled for tommorow at noon so i thought that was when it was :(

I'll see the real deal though when Fed plays Conzales.....they definitely gonna show it live


I'm not surprised that Serena won though.

I believed in her from the 1st day!

serena outplayed maria in every department on the court. she really came out and physically imposed her game on maria. and the sharapova service game had better see brighter days :wacko:

but cheers to a champion, serena :clap:

Serena played great i was amazed too at just how well. Sharapova will be the new world no 1, but it's obvious it Serena wants to be no 1 she can be, based on her performance.

hey! :angry:

I got up at 3:30 to go and watch the Serena v. Sharapova match expecting quite a tight battle. What ensued was another masterclass in womens tennis. Ever ball that Serena hit virtually seemed perfect and her movement was at the highest quality. If this is her way of fighting back and reigniting her passion for tennis then I hope that she can continue it for the rest of the year as it was amazing. Serenas serve, shots, returns and movement were all there and there was almost nothing that you could fault. Everyone including Sharapova was stunned and now that she has her 8th Grand Slam after such a long time winning nothing, who would bet against her winning more.

Great to see the amazing Serena back!

Serena was great and I underestimated her completely. As ther are so many threads about it, here are my thoughts from another thread.

Yeah, it was obliteration alright. here are my thoughts on the other thread:

I was mesmerised by her focus and look of absolute determination throughout that match. It was scary, I was nervous of meeting her in a dark alley! So much for Sharapova being the most mentally tough out there, i just knew Serena would show her who's boss and get here revenge for Wimby 04, I was however expecting Sharapova to turn up and make a match of it. Anyway Serena totally dominated that match, her play wasn't the prettiest but it was so commanding and precise it was an awesome spectacle of hwo to demolish a power player with breadsticks! Serena was pure class, totally dominated Maria from the start and never let up. Amazing lack of errors and super display of power WITH control. Thats' what I like to see. A polished, almost flawless performance form Serena, her tactical experince really showed. Totally great serving and so few errors. And I loved Serena's speech afterwards, she won it for Yetunde. I'm glad she won cos it made a great story. Shows how much guts and dtermination she has and she has really stuffed her critics now!

Mind you it has thrown the cat among the pigeons that world number 80 odd who's hardly played a match and was out of fitness and form can come back and paste the world No1. Women's tennis better wake up methinks. And Abysmal perfromance from Maria. OK, so Serena really took it to her but a world number one with no plan B? Disgraceful.

Look, i'm being totally honest here, I knew people would throw the knifes in and overstate if Serena won!

Serena played great, take nothing away! But she was put under no pressure by Sharapova, who quite clearly froze. You can say what you like, but that was the main factor in such a heavy scoreline!

Had Maria gone in and played in a relaxed way, at 80%+ of her level, she would have been close, and probably would have won. Problem was, she was stuck in first gear!

:coffee:

Putting the knifes in? Everyones just telling it like they saw it.

Hmmm... Had Maria won in tha manner everyone would be saying how Serena had a terrible off-day, how Maria was lucky etc...

I've seen what boards are like roflmao

There's no denying Serena played great and it was a thrashing. But people seem to have it in their heads that that is the actual genuine difference between the players! roflmao

Had Serena and Maria both been playing 100%, then it would have been hard to call. In the event, Serena was at about 90% and Maria stuck on about 50%!

I think Maria was below par in my opinion but possibly only due to the fact she was so shocked and humbled about the ferocity and power and accuracy of Serena! Nobody was expecting Serena to come out like that after a 2 year lay off! No wonder Maria was shellshocked. We all were.

I think these two at the best are very similar on power levels, I sooo hope Serena keeps the fire burning, it's be great to see a rivalry between these two this year.

90% pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

50% Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

you sound like a little boy now chairman roflmao

I hope Serena sticks around for the whole year too this time, maybe we can finally see how the current crop does compare! I feel it will be close...

Yes if Maria had been allowed into the match then it definitely would've been a lot closer. I think the thing is though, is that Serena and Venus if they're timing is on, just hit that ball harder than the likes of Davenport, Sharapova, Seles, Capriati etc. which is why they normally seem to beat them in grandslams. Not to mention their great athleticism of course :D

Im not saying Maria never has a chance against Serena when she's playing well, we know she can beat her, she has and will again.

But I think that bottom line is that when on form Serena will always be dictating in their matches.

To be honest, the two matches where both players have got footholds were in the AO semi 05, and the YEC's 04. at wimby Maria got a firm foothold from the start after Serena started nervously and never really let go, and the opposite happened here.

Hopefully we will have some matches between the two where both are firing, I reckon they are level in dictating terms ;)

The Sharapova-Williams rivalry, although all about hard-hitting, could be one of the most awe-inspiring imaginable if Serena will stick at it

Just noticed this :unsure: I agree that it could be a great rivalry, but to me Serena just has that extra bit of power which she can use to boss the points that bit more than Maria, if she's firing. Plus her superior movement also allows her to get into position better and really launch into some of her shots with more confidence than Maria who does tend to scramble around at the baseline IF on the backfoot.

I think against Serena rather than her normally reliable serve, Maria's returning skills are her best asset. As if Serena is having a bad serving day, Maria can really pounce on it to take the match. Like in that YEC 3rd set for example.

EDIT: Why am I even on here? I should be asleep now! roflmao

yeah you should have been roflmao

Couldn't stop thinking about Maria and Serena you see... :rolleyes: