June 30, 2011
Sport's latest star pairing is centre stage at Wimbledon, writes Karen Crouse.
WATCHING Maria Sharapova's power and precision, the centre-court crowd at Wimbledon fell into an awed silence on Tuesday, one that was broken before or after some points by the clapping of one person. Without a word, Sasha Vujacic was communicating everything his fiancee, Sharapova, needed to hear during her 6-1, 6-1 quarter-final victory against Dominika Cibulkova.
Sharapova and Vujacic have a telepathy usually seen in old, married couples, never mind that they have yet to set a wedding date. If anyone can understand the loneliness and loveliness of the sporting life, it is Vujacic. As a member of the Los Angeles Lakers, he performed in pressure-filled games in front of large and often hostile crowds and won two NBA championships. “There is that level of understanding of what it takes,” Sharapova said.
Since Vujacic, now with the New Jersey Nets, joined her travelling party after finishing his basketball season, Sharapova has advanced to her first two grand slam semi-finals since her title run at the 2008 Australian Open. The ticket she punched to Wimbledon's semi-finals was especially sweet, coming on the surface where she first had major success and on the heels of a career-threatening shoulder injury that shook her confidence to its core. “I've put a lot of work in to get to this stage,” Sharapova said. “It's great, the fact that I've had the experience of being in those stages. But I haven't been for a while, so it's a nice and refreshing feeling to have.”
For 60 minutes under the centre-court roof, Sharapova was her old young self, blasting forehand winners down the lines and serving with the fearlessness of the teenager who stared down Serena Williams to win the 2004 Wimbledon title. She finished with 23 winners to Cibulkova's three and had five aces against one double fault, but said she was not looking beyond her next match, against Sabine Lisicki.
The tennis court is Sharapova's office, and the focus she brings to her job would be off-putting to many high-powered mates. During a hitting session on Sunday, her most recent day off, Sharapova was working on her serve, and for good reason. In her first four matches, she had 14 aces and 18 double faults and had been broken six times, although she did not drop a set.
Her coach, Thomas Hogstedt, dropped a ball bag outside the baseline and left, depositing three balls in Vujacic's hands.
For several minutes, Sharapova struck serve after serve as Vujacic fed her the ball. No words passed between them. A couple of times, Sharapova got Vujacic's attention by nodding at him as if he were a ball boy.
Once the session was over, Sharapova collected her racquet bag and her fiance, and they left side by side.
On days of her matches, Vujacic walks a few paces behind her, exchanging smiles and hellos and handshakes with players, trainers, coaches - anybody who crosses his path, it seems - while Sharapova moves as if wearing blinders.
Vujacic, 27, from Slovenia, knows about intensity after sharing a backcourt with Kobe Bryant during his 61/2 seasons with the Lakers. While possessing a personality so sunny that others seem to luxuriate in it, Vujacic, like his fiancee, has another side.
“It obviously helps that he's an athlete and understands the perspective and the mind-set going into matches and being an athlete,” said Sharapova, who at 24 will be the oldest women's semi-finalist.
“It's quite different to many other things in life and careers.”
NEW YORK TIMES
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