INDIAN WELLS, California: Plenty of lobs, subtle changes of pace, marathon baseline rallies - Maria Sharapova (pictured) is preparing for all of that and more when she faces Caroline Wozniacki in today’s final at the BNP Paribas Open.
Denmark’s Wozniacki, like Sharapova a former world number one and an ex-champion at Indian Wells, is known for her baseline grit and the variety she draws upon, ingredients which make her a tough opponent.
“She’s a grinder,” second-seeded Russian Sharapova told reporters about the 22-year-old Dane. “She makes you work really hard on the court and gets a lot of balls back and has a lot of different variety.
“I certainly don’t want to give her that time or those opportunities, because she’s a really good player. She’s dangerous when she has the opportunities to open up court and she wants you running side to side.”
Asked how much it could help having played several ‘grinders’ so far at this year’s tournament, Sharapova replied: “I have had to work for all the points here, that’s for sure.
“I also feel like, in a way, in a couple of those matches I made my life a little more difficult than I should have been. I was forcing a few of my errors.”
Sharapova, champion here in 2006, booked her place in the final with a 6-4 6-3 victory over fellow Russian Maria Kirilenko while eighth seed Wozniacki advanced with a battling 2-6 6-4 7-5 win over fourth-seeded German Angelique Kerber. Wozniacki effectively turned the tide against Kerber with a barrage of accurate lobs, or moonballs, on the slow-paced hardcourt surface at Indian Wells and Sharapova took note.
“I saw some of those points,” the 25-year-old Russian smiled. “That was quite interesting.
“They looked like they were really high and they all kept going in. I was like, ‘That’s a really good effort.’ I don’t think I can do that.”
Asked what adjustments were needed to cope with the “moonball strategy”, Sharapova replied: “Usually when your opponent has time to hit higher balls or a little bit of spin, that means you’re giving them a bit more time to do that.”
Wozniacki, who won the 2011 Indian Wells title with a 6-1 2-6 6-3 victory over Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli in the final, trails Sharapova 2-4 in career meetings and knows she will have to contend with the Russian’s powerful ground strokes. REUTERS
