2011 Wimbledon Championships: Whither Maria Sharapova?

Maria Sharapova is a bit of an enigma.

Blessed with power, length and stroke, she has won three tennis majors. Yet why does it feel like she should have accomplished more by now?

The question is not posed to harshly critique Sharapova, it's just that when a player in tennis, or any other sport, is acknowledged to possess superstar talent, the hope is to see that talent come to maximum fruition.

This has not been the case with Sharapova. Currently, fruition torments her legacy.

Still, there is time. There is always time, if one is dedicated enough to a purpose. There is time for Sharapova to stockpile a few more grand slams—especially with Justine Henin gone, Kim Clisters virtually gone and Caroline Wozniacki seemingly star-crossed when it comes to majors.

Maria Sharapova is only 24 years old.

Credit Sharapova with an admirable return from injury, but a satisfying career culmination is going to have to come from her gut and is going to be measured by whether she secures more slams.

Who knows if she has that unique something in her to achieve such greatness? The doubt about this is even more palpable because it's so outwardly light and breezy to be the hyped, ready-made headline that is Maria Sharapova.

On the surface, Sharapova has everything to set the tennis world afire: beauty, god-like size (she's 6'2” and 130 pounds) for a female pro, charisma and talent. If only she would set the WTA ablaze. Perhaps her gifts are too gratifying? Is Sharapova too self-contented?

Take the simple statistic: In 2011, Maria Sharapova, the present No. 6 player in the world, has a record of 31-7. That's the good news. Now the bad news: She has only one title (she won the Italian Open in May, beating the hapless Sam Stosur) out of eight tournament appearances, including the Fed Cup.

Such a record is a small prairie fire, not a blaze.

While Sharapova has gotten to another final this year (losing the Sony Ericsson Open in April to No. 4 Victoria Azarenka), given her very capricious play over the past three years, it is safer to predict less for Sharapova for the rest of 2011 than more.

Prima facie, Sharapova's 2011 record is not bad, but for Maria—particularly in the midst of Women's Tennis flux—it is pedestrian, or average, for an elite competitor.

From 2008 to 2010, Sharapova's rankings were 9, 14, and 18—far below where she belongs. That's inconsistency, with inconsistency being a characteristic refrain for Sharapova in recent years.

Yes, Sharapova has been ranked No. 1 on four occasions throughout her 11-year career, but two of those ascensions were because of an injury to Lindsay Davenport (2005) and the sudden retirement of Justine Henin (2008), respectively. And, indeed, in tennis it's more about the majors than about No. 1 rankings, anyway.

Additionally, it is true that Maria Sharapova has won 23 titles in her tennis lifetime. However, compare this to some of her other contemporaries: Lindsay Davenport (58), Martina Hingis (43), Justine Henin (43) and Kim Clisters (41). Sharapova has a long ways to go to catch them.

For a player that gets so much publicity, the expectation is that she would have harvested more imperial results by this point.

Maria Sharapova has made it to this year's Wimbledon semifinals. Sportswriters like the distinguished New York Daily News scribe Filip Bondy (see his June 29^th column), have christened Sharapova “the favorite” out of those players who remain. Someone should tell Mr. Bondy to hold his express-train christening of Maria.

In the hurly-burly of Women's Tennis, how can anyone be labeled a so-called “favorite”? But Bondy's designation of Sharapova is indicative of a cruel reality: Her name goes further than her game.

So, whither Maria Sharapova? The answer could very well lie right here, right now, on the Wimbledon lawns.

Her three semifinal opponents are: un-ranked Sabine Lisicki of Germany; the Belarusian Victoria Azarenka, who doesn't win grand slams (except two mixed doubles titles); and Petra Kvitova, a player who is rapidly rising, but who has only four titles in her six-year pro career.

It's all there for the taking for Sharapova. This Wimbledon could be her delta into the big sea of further grand slam championships. Let's see if she has it in her gut.