Sharapova buzz taking hold all around Cup

The circus arrived at the Family Circle Cup on Wednesday afternoon.

It was like a Davis Cup atmosphere. Electricity was in the air long before Maria Sharapova was scheduled to take the court. I've never seen this tournament in such a festive mood. And this is its 35th anniversary.

Family Circle Magazine Stadium was alive with hundreds of fans watching the player they came to see in the night match. The main event was still a couple hours away.

Sharapova drilled hard for nearly an hour under the direction of coach Michael Joyce. Boy, is she good, and it's real easy to see why she is so good. She's a workaholic.

Of course, banana-man Yuri Sharapov was right there, putting in his two cents worth from the opposite end of the court. Maria took all instructions cheerfully, and continued to work hard on almost every element of the game. She hit and served from both ends.

Sharapova obviously likes drop shots. But that serve of hers?

She signed autographs for a bunch of kids before leaving the court under the protection of two police officers. Even the guards couldn't protect Bethanie Mattek from Sharapova's 59 minutes of killer shots in a 6-0, 6-0 drubbing later in the evening.

To put it mildly, Sharapova was ultra-sharp in her opening match, far more than Serena Williams had been a night earlier.

Content with Maria-Serena

Tournament officials are quite content with the possibility of a Sharapova-Williams quarterfinal. The tournament can't lose if that happens.

Not only would that potential Friday matchup be the biggest in, at least, the Daniel Island years of the tournament's history, either Maria or Serena would still be around for the semifinals. That one scenario would ensure this year's tournament of possibly being the best yet.

Alexandra's big chance

It was there for the taking. Alexandra Stevenson was up 5-4 in the first set. Top-seeded Jelena Jankovic was serving at deuce. Stevenson needed just two points to put fear into the Serbian.

Stevenson hit a return, moved toward the net. Only she stopped in no-man's land. Jankovic's shot easily passed Stevenson's forehand side as she scampered helplessly on the clay.

You might as well say that was the match. Stevenson lost the next point to even the set, then the next eight games. How could one bad decision be so destructive?

But that's athletics. When an underdog gets a chance, it may be the last one.

What was Stevenson doing going to the net on such a weak approach on such a critical point? It was a dreadful decision that proved extremely costly. Stevenson may have lost the match even if she had won the first set, but dropping those last nine games could take some of the steam out of the sparkling comeback that had netted her three consecutive straight-set wins.

Today's players venture to the net so seldom that most of them don't have a clue about when to go or what to do when they get there. Each time they go to the net at an inopportune time with poor results takes away a little more of their confidence.

As a result, the game is headed down a one-way street. Net play in singles probably will continue to fade.

That's a shame. There's nothing more exciting in tennis than to see a player hit a great approach shot, deep into the backhand corner and charge the net while prepared to knock off a volley. The player has to expect to have to hit a volley for the trip to have any chance of success.

Serena surprise

There was a point in Tuesday night's main event when trim Argentine Gisela Dulko delivered a delicate drop shot to Serena Williams' backhand side, and raced just inside the T. Dulko probably didn't expect Serena to get the ball, but she did. And with gusto, Serena came up with one of her patented power shots. She practically knocked the racket out of the 5-7, 123-pound Argentine's hand. Dulko obviously didn't expect to have to hit a volley and certainly wasn't prepared for one of Serena's bombs.

Serena didn't play her best tennis in the straight-set win over Dulko, but the physical part of her game was impressive. She was a little awkward in her footwork and switching directions on the clay, but once she moved into high gear she was a world-class athlete.

She had only to play within herself to win Miami on hard courts. That was enough to drive her balls through the court, but on clay she'll have to hit a lot more shots. She'll have to be patient, but yet hit the big shot when the opening occurs.

Reach James Beck at jdbeck@postandcourier.com or (843) 937-5540.

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