It’s good to see Sharapova’s return to a more complete, larger, fluid movement. Because of its “flatness”, timing will continue to be an issue but at least it is easier on the shoulder joint.
I believe two factors play a role in her ultimate success and did so at Wimbledon:
1) Her game is one of the flattest around, especially her serve. I believe, had she had a slice and kick serve, she would be holding the winners trophy instead of that of a runner up.
2) A second factor in that particular championship match jumped out at me. It may be true that Kvitova makes more errors from her forehand ground stroke, but I don’t believe that was good enough reason to serve to that side.
When playing a lefty, it is important to exploit the Deuce court wide serve as often as they exploit the Ad court wide serve. Sharapova chose to hit to the forehand with her serve and ground strokes way too much and the statistics I’m sure would support that. Time and again she found herself on the defensive after choosing to hit an “optional” shot to the forehand.
What do you think?
Sincerely,
TennisDr