The New York Times-20080127-A Second Wave of Success Is Sweeter for Sharapova

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A Second Wave of Success Is Sweeter for Sharapova

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Beers in hand on the terrace of the players lounge, Michael Joyce and his fellow coach Yuri Sharapov were reveling in their pupil Maria Sharapova's first Australian Open singles title. They were laughing and relaxing, the pressure gone at least for a few days until she lands in Israel to play her first Fed Cup match for Russia.

After a difficult, disappointing season by Sharapova's exacting standards, one filled with shoulder discomfort and emotional trauma, this season is off to a perfect start: seven matches and seven victories with no sets lost despite one of the toughest draws conceivable.

If you put the whole tournament together, for sure it was the best tennis she's played, Joyce said after Sharapova's 7-5, 6-3 victory over Ana Ivanovic in Saturday's final. Today was tough because it was so hot. To be honest, of all the Grand Slams, this is one of the toughest to win because conditions can change day after day. One day it's 27 degrees Celsius, the next day it's 40. One day the roof is closed, the next day it's open. To get through two weeks is just mental toughness.

Joyce, a 34-year-old former touring professional who peaked at No. 64 in the ATP rankings, has known Sharapova since she was 10 and both were taking regular lessons with Robert Lansdorp, the gruff, California-based ground-stroke guru. Joyce hit with Sharapova on occasion then and began helping her on a full-time basis in 2004, shortly after his own career wound down and shortly after hers soared into the clouds with her surprising Wimbledon victory at age 17.

This is like success the second time around, and it's actually a lot sweeter, Sharapova said on Saturday, her long legs crossed and her long arms folded during an interview with a group of reporters. Because I think I've proven to myself that I can come back from having setbacks and negative thoughts and having doubts in my mind of: 'Where is this injury taking me? It's not making me a better player. It's making me sit at home and spend my money on artwork. I'm not having a great time here.'

Although I love art and all that, I'd much rather be out there winning tournaments and winning Grand Slams.

By most tennis players' standards, this hardly counts as delayed gratification. At age 20, Sharapova has already been ranked No. 1 and has won three Grand Slam singles titles. All she needs now is the French Open title to complete her collection.

It's probably one of the biggest challenges I'm going to have in my career, to win it, Sharapova said. But as you all know, I love the challenges, and that's what drives me, and I'm getting better and better and feeling stronger.

Joyce agrees and is, of course, paid to agree. He has gradually emerged as the biggest day-to-day influence on Sharapova's game and, though her excitable father remains on the official coaching staff, she now calls Joyce basically my main coach and spent the off-season training with Joyce exclusively.

A lot of the things I go through as a tennis player, he's been through many times, Sharapova said. My dad never played tennis. He played but was never professional.

Sharapova said she also considers Joyce a very close part of my family, and on Saturday she underscored their strong, emotional connection by dedicating her victory to Joyce's mother, Jane, whose death from cancer last year was another reason that 2007 was a traumatic season.

My mom had cancer for six years, Joyce said, so ever since I started with Maria, my mom had been having her ups and downs..

She kind of went through it with me in a way, Joyce said, referring to Sharapova. I didn't mention it to her much, but I think she really grew to like my mom. I think out of respect to me she didn't want to talk about it too much in public, because she didn't really know how I'd feel about it. But I really think it affected her a lot more than she let on.

Meanwhile, the bursitis in Sharapova's right shoulder that surfaced shortly before this tournament in 2007 was damaging her season, cutting into her practice time and keeping her from serving without fear in matches. It was not until she received a cortisone injection from doctors in Toronto in September that the condition dissipated. After deciding to continue her season and play in the tour championships in Madrid, she made a surprising, deeply reassuring run to the final, nearly beating the No. 1 player, Justine Henin.

When she returned to practice in Los Angeles in late November after a brief vacation, Joyce sensed that good results were ahead. From the first day we started training in the off-season, she was kind of like a woman on a mission, he said.

Yuri Sharapov did not join them until they arrived in Hong Kong for an exhibition in early January. Sharapov, who has been warned for coaching his daughter during matches, is widely viewed inside and outside the tennis world as an overbearing parent whose aggressive behavior in the players box and comments toward some of Sharapova's opponents have been too often over the top. Joyce views him differently.

It's funny when I hear these stories about Yuri and this and that, Joyce said. I have people come up to me all the time and say to me: 'How can you work with that guy? That guy is a nut,' and this and that. And if they had any idea. I actually really miss him when he's not around.

I think part of the reason she has that fighting mentality is because of him in a way, because it's like us against the world. It's kind of like the persona he puts out. But we have a great time. You know, he's funny as can be.

There was not much laughter in Rod Laver Arena after Sharapova's 6-4, 6-0 victory over Henin in the quarterfinals when Sharapov yanked the hood of his camouflage jacket over his head and made a throat-slashing gesture in the direction of his daughter. Sharapova later explained that it was a private joke that had nothing to do with Henin but was related to the jacket which she thought made her father look like an assassin. Visibly wary of the topic, she told Australian television on Saturday, I'm going to burn that jacket.

Sharapov, who rarely gives interviews, addressed the issue briefly after the tournament and said he had meant no harm. Do you really think I would be stupid enough to make a sign like that about some other player? he said. If I were so bad as people think I am bad, then God would not let her win the big things she is winning.

[Illustration]PHOTO: Maria Sharapova got her season off to a fast start, winning seven matches without losing a set to win the Australian Open. (PHOTOGRAPH BY DITA ALANGKARA/ASSOCIATED PRESS)