Russian tennis player Maria Sharapova has won the Masters once in her career in Cincinnati. In 2011, Maria defeated Serbian Jelena Jankovic in the final (4:6, 7:6, 6:3).
Sharapova had a good chance to win the Ohio State title again in 2014. Another eminent representative of Serbia, Ana Ivanovic, stood in her way in the semifinals, the three-setter did not end in favor of Maria: 2:6 7:5, 5:7. In the deciding set, the Russian led with a break, but she lost control of the game after a bizarre and unexpected medical timeout from Ivanovic. The Russian woman did not hold back and openly expressed her dissatisfaction both during the game and after.
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Sharapova at the Cincinnati Masters in 2014 was seeded fifth, behind Serena Williams, Simona Halep, Petra Kvitova and Agnieszka Radwańska. Maria defeated the American Madison Keys (6:1, 3:6, 6:3) and her compatriot Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (6:4, 7:6), after which in the quarterfinals she faced a much stronger opponent. more serious in the person of the second racket in the world the Romanian Simona Halep (3:6, 6:4, 6:4).
Maria Sharapova at the Cincinnati Masters in 2014
Photo: Andy Lyons/Getty Images
In the semifinals, Sharapova’s opponent was the ninth seed Ana Ivanovich, who on her way knocked out the American Christina McHale (6: 4, 6: 0), and then more eminent opponents – Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova (6 : 2, 2:6, 6:3) and the Ukrainian Elina Svitolina (6:2, 6:3).
Maria was considered the favorite of the match with Ivanovic. At the time of the Cincinnati semifinals, the Russian woman led 8:3 in personal meetings. Although the last meeting of the tennis players ended in favor of the Serb: 6:1, 6:4 at the May clay tournament in Rome. In the Italian capital, Ivanovich managed to break a seven-game losing streak in the matchup with Sharapova and sought to extend a successful segment for her in Cincinnati.
Ana surprised in the first set. Ivanovic made a break when the score was 2-1, taking serve with confidence and holding on to the others. The Serbian did not convert a break point in the sixth game, but this only briefly delayed her victory in a 6-2 game.
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Sharapova started the second set even worse than the first. Maria lost 0:4. Ivanovich’s victory seemed inevitable, but Sharapova pulled herself together, took three serves from the opponent, five games in a row at 2: 5 and closed the game in her favor – 7: 5. The resounding return of Maria has already led to believe that the triumph of the Russian woman in this match is a more likely outcome.
The dynamic course of the match was interrupted at the beginning of the third set. In the second game of the deciding set, with the score 0:1, 15:15, Sharapova Ivanovich stopped the game and called the doctor. After the examination, the tennis player was asked to lie down on the court, her blood pressure was measured and she was given pills. This all seemed rather strange, since Ana had not previously shown any symptoms of health problems.
Dead time Ana Ivanovic
Photo: Jonathan Moore/Getty Images
After a pause, the game continued. In the third game, Sharapova made a break, then gave up his serve, but corrected herself and again took someone else’s. The medical timeout threw both players out of rhythm and caused a series of stupid mistakes in their performance, but in the end it was Ivanovic who benefited the most. In the decisive draw, with a score of 4: 3, María made a double mistake on the court and instead of a comfortable advantage with the close of the game that was coming, she made her life significantly complicated.
“Check your pressure,” Sharapova said angrily after submitting out of bounds, using active gestures.
Sharapova corrected the earlier oversight and immediately made a break. Maria served for the match in the tenth game. At first, things were like that. The Russian woman played a couple of break points at 15:40 and eventually won two more match points, but she missed them. Ivanovich in some incomprehensible way equalized the score under unfavorable circumstances for her – 5:5.
Then Ana led 6:5. Sharapova had a chance to win serve back from her and push the outcome to a tiebreaker. In game 12, Maria again lost 15:40, but this time she didn’t even tie. Sharapova lost the third serve in a row, and with it the set and the match that lasted 2 hours 46 minutes – 2:6, 7:5, 5:7.
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At the press conference, Maria did not hide her dissatisfaction with Ivanovic’s medical timeout.
“In fact, I never got a clear answer what it was about. I mean, I don’t know the reason for Ivanovic’s medical timeout. No one told me what his problem was. Maybe some kind of panic attack. I don’t know why they measure blood pressure during a game. We played a long game today, and he looked pretty healthy. So I don’t know what happened to her. Did Ivanovich’s break get me down? The moment was strange for him. He came from nowhere. Usually they tell you about a break during transition, but here we were already up, I started serving and the score was 15,” Sharapova said.
Ana Ivanovic, after defeating Sharapova, reached the biggest final since the Indian Wells Masters in 2009. A great achievement for the 2008 Roland Garros champion, whose career has long been in the doldrums.
Ana Ivanovic at the Cincinnati Masters in 2014
Photo: Jonathan Moore/Getty Images
Ana not only accepted congratulations on her successful result, but also answered an awkward question about her sudden medical timeout in the third set.
“The match was very exciting and the fight was hard, especially at the end, in the third set. Even in the second course of the game it changed. I am very happy that I kept calm and fought until the end. When it mattered most, I made a great game. Medical waiting time? I felt very nauseous. I think I ate something wrong today. When my coach would go on the field, he would constantly tell him that he had a bad stomach. And by the third set he got really bad,” Ivanovich said.
From Ivanovich’s answer, it is still not clear why measure blood pressure during nausea. It cannot be ruled out that Ana deliberately resorted to legal sports tricks to mislead Sharapova. In any case, Maria should have remained calm and reacted less emotionally to this episode. The Russians had excellent chances to close the match in their favour, but excessive nervousness definitely prevented them from doing so.
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In the final of the Cincinnati Masters, Ivanovic lost without a chance to the first racket in the world Serena Williams (4:6, 1:6). Could Sharapova, instead of Ana, put up a more serious resistance to Williams? Yes, but it’s unlikely that she’ll win the match, given Serena’s 2:20 stat in personal meetings during her career (her only two wins came in 2004).
Maria drew conclusions after the failure in the confrontation with Ivanovich in Cincinnati. Sharapova easily faced Ana (6:4, 6:0) during their next head-to-head meeting in the Masters semifinals in Beijing. The Russian woman did not bring the matter to a mess and won so that no one had any doubts about her superiority. Finally, Maria took the title in China, defeating the Czech Petra Kvitova in the final (6:4, 2:6, 6:3).
