Patty Schnyder had Maria Sharapova on the ropes today at the French Open today. Sharapova was choking hard. Sharapova was cheating equally hard. Oh yeah she cheated. Down 2-1 in the third set of her 3-6, 6-4, 9-7 win over Schnyder Maria called the trainer for a phantom injury break, effectively cooling Schnyder's jets. Twice at key moments in the middle of games she was losing in the third set, Sharapova stopped play and changed rackets that had no technical problems; the second stick switch earned Sharapova a warning from the chair umpire. Maria's daddy, Yuri Shrapov, was doing his customary illegal coaching from his seat in the friends box.
This time, though, instead of turning a blind eye to Maria's shenanigans, the tennis-savvy French crowd began booing Sharapova when she called for the trainer. The booing continued when Maria questioned several calls on shots she hit that were obviously out. Schnyder, a known good woman on the tour, even shot Sharapova a few evil glances during the match. She was booed on each stall tactic racket switch. And when Sharapova finally won, some of the crowd cheered, but a whole lot of the crowd booed.
Sure clay isn't Sharapova's best surface; she's never advanced past the quarterfinals at Roland Garros. But it appears the, 'I'll win by hook or by crook' is finally getting on the nerves of tennis audiences around the world. Earlier this year she was booed for the same tactics at the Australian Open. It will be interesting to see if she's booed by the normally genteel British crowd at Wimbledon.
But Maria won because Schnyder choked harder than she did. and Maria won because Schnyder is too nice to demand that the chair umpire stop Sharapova's illegal tactics. Maybe the day will come soon when a player who isn't so nice or who truly doesn't like Sharapova - like one of the Russian women - tells Sharapova to cut the crap and play. Maybe television announcers like those at NBC will stop with the "controversial ending" nonsense and the "Maria dug deep like a champion blah blah and tell the truth.
Maria Sharapova needs a good verbal slapping right on the court for the whole world to see.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
6-03-2007 @ 5:46PM
Bruce Hardy said...
When th' hell will the tennis governing powers put a stop to the SCREAMMING, especially that by Shrapova, Venus Williams and others. They don't SCREAM during wam-up. Give them 18 months to stop. After that, penalize a screamer 1 point,2 points and then default the set, then default the match!!!!
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6-03-2007 @ 5:43PM
Bruce Hardy said...
When th' hell will the tennis governing powers put a stop to the SCREAMING - like that practiced by Sharapova, Venus Williams and several others. They don't SCREAM during warm-up! They only do it to distract their opponent and get LOUDER as a point goes on! DAMN 'em!!!!
Give them 18 months to stop - than penalize them 1 point, then 2 points, then default the game, then default the match.
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6-04-2007 @ 11:07AM
rick said...
you are right on point with sharapova's cheating ways. also most of the russian lady players hate dislike her and her dad more than the american players such as serena. i even think her and serena have a respect for each other. sharapova is overrated by the announcers and early in her career they went nuts with the 'beauty thing'. my wife doesn't even play tennis and she realized that the racquet switch was a psyche ploy. i felt bad for patty snyd, but she had her chances and didn't capitalize.
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6-04-2007 @ 11:07AM
annette said...
maria learned the tactics from justine, who never fails to resort to such stalls, as an attempt to affect her opponents momentum.SPORTSMANSHIP/SPORTWOMANSHIP is fundamental to tennis and golf play. unethical lapses in these sports is disgraceful. players have been fined for cursing and attire. dishonorable tennis conduct should be penalized and publicized before it corrupts the sport.
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6-04-2007 @ 11:09AM
onpriolo said...
I love tennis, and I think letting Sharapove get away with these kind of cheatting is really bad. Her father her, and their attitude, are the kind of things that taints one of the best sports.
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6-05-2007 @ 7:40PM
Truth said...
Wow, when did they start letting the janitors write the blogs on AOL Sports?
Sharapova had already served by the time Schnyder raised her hand - it's the ump's fault for not getting that situation under control. As for the racket change, yeah that was gamesmanship, but you're acting as though it's the worst thing ever done by a player on the court - you obviously haven't watched much tennis in your life. Get back to me when Maria grabs her crotch and gives the finger to the umpire ala Connors or spits at an ump ala Agassi or shakes an umpire's chair so hard they almost fall off ala Tursunov and Courier.
Maria was never booed in Australia - where are you getting this from? Stop making things up. Also, Maria was cheered when she came out for her match today in the quarterfinal and there were no boos.
Schnyder one of the "good girls" of the tour - holy crap now you have me rolling in the aisles. This same Schnyder who is known for getting into fist fights with other players in the locker room (see: Conchita Martinez among others)and once told Anna Kournikova to her face that she hated her guts and trashed her repeatedly in her press conferences? Patty is known as the biggest flake on tour - with her guru husband and the weird cults she's been involved with.
AOL - please get someone who has actual tennis knowledge to do this blog. D-Wii or whatever the hell your name is doesn't know their stuff.
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6-05-2007 @ 8:00PM
D-Wil said...
Truth-
Having played on the tour and having witnessed Conchita Martinez and others of her "ilk" do unsavory things to young female pros, I think I'll take my personal knowledge over your second-hand smoke any day of the week. (ummm, FYI, Schnyder is not married to her "guru" and is not involved in "cults" - nice try; you're obviously confusing some years ago, with now)
Actually Sharapova was booed late in the first set of her match against Anna Chakvetadze in the semis of the Australian, complaining about calls, stalling, and she did get a warning for getting openly coached by her father.
How many obvious out calls did Sharapova challenge during her match against Schnyder? Sharapova called for the trainer for what again? At what points in the match did she change her racket without it having any discernible defect? And she did get a warning for with her second fake racket change, no? And she was booed by the French crowd, or was your television set on mute?
And this from you:
"Sharapova had already served by the time Schnyder raised her hand - it's the ump's fault for not getting that situation under control."
What might you be talking about???!
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6-06-2007 @ 5:21PM
dan said...
This is professional tennis...they are big girls (even though some may be in their teens) if schnyder isn't going to say anything about sharapova making "illegal" trainer breaks or racket changes, then why should sharapova not take advantage of that. these girls are not out there to make friends. sharapova is a good player in that she can tell who will let her get away with that stuff and she'll take advantage of it if you let her, and i say kudos to her. and i think if this were the men's tour not too many people would be commenting about someone doing whatever they can to win a match.
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6-06-2007 @ 6:06AM
thelizabeff said...
Get a grip. There's a line between sportsmanship and cheating. And I don't even think Sharapova displays bad sportsmanship, never mind cheating.
What you think is very important though, certianly. I'm sure next time Sharapova is hoisting a trophy that her incredible skill, talent, and mental toughness has earned her, she will think of your words and crumble into tears.
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6-06-2007 @ 1:08PM
alan maedgen said...
I love when non tennis players try to comment on what they think they see happen on court...As for the "illegal" racket change, any idiot knows that players routinely take multiple rackets at multiple tensions and strings out to the court. Also, its the nature of the strings, expecially on European clay with its grittiness, that gut stings fray easier and don't hold up as long...So to take ur non knowledge of tennis to the extreme, if a player looks at their racket or feels its not the right tension, they should not change rackets until the side change...Thats luducras! Go back to watching your football games, where the umpires routinely change the balls, wipe rain off the balls,ect, so that the quarterback will have a fresh one so as not to commit errors. The French crowd rightly engages in rowdy behavior when they feel like it...Ever sit near courtside at the US Open in Ashe Stadium and forget and think your in good old England?? Come on, fans are different in every country and thats why some touraments are so special to some players and a complete disaster to others.
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6-06-2007 @ 12:02PM
alan maedgen said...
Besides, Henin (the French's favorite) teaches a MASTER CLASS in gamesmanship...Yes, she is a great champion too, but she also knows how to make the rules of tennis work for her and understands the psychology of the game...I can assure you that Maria is well versed as well in Mental Conditioning at the Bolletieri Academy as she should be.
Oh how quicky you forget that Johnny Mac and Jimbo routinely made a mockery of the courtside jester/umpire.
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6-19-2007 @ 2:35PM
Anne said...
Did anyone hear what Maria's argument was when the ball hit her on the fly and the umpire gave the point to her opponent? Everyone knows that rule but I'm dying to know what reasoning she gave for complaining on the call?
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