Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams to meet in Madrid Masters final

Since the time the Madrid draw had been announced, one of the attention-grabbing stories had been the battle for the numero uno ranking between the current World No. 1, Serena Williams, and the woman breathing down her neck, Maria Sharapova. A win in the final would ensure the return of the Russian to the World No. 1 ranking after a gap of ten months.

And so as we arrive at the last day of what has been an eventful Madrid Open so far, there couldn’t have been a more competitive final. Will the defending champion Serena retain her ranking, or will last year’s quarter-finalist Maria wrestle it away from her? Here’s a preview of the final –

Serena Williams

Does Serena really need any extra motivation after all that she has achieved on the WTA Tour? She is the world’s best player at the moment, and is playing like a dominant force too. Since her loss to Victoria Azarenka in the Doha final, she has been on a staggering 17-match winning streak, annihilating every opponent on the way to being the first player to reach 30 match wins this year.

Perhaps Serena does need a little bit of motivation after all. On Saturday, the 2002 French Open champion reached her first red clay final in 11 years. Maybe that ignominious flameout she had against Virginie Razzano at the French Open first round last year still hurts. That was the first time ever that Serena has exited a Grand Slam in the opening round. Maybe that humiliation is what is egging her on to come back on this surface with a bang.

Perhaps that unflinching desire is what is pushing her on even when she is down a set against an accomplished clay-courter like Jelena Jankovic at Charleston or Anabel Medina Garrigues at the Spanish capital. Add to that the incentive to hold on to her No. 1 ranking and also to win 50 career titles, and you realise her opponents are going to be in for a very tough outing.

Maria Sharapova

If there is anyone on the Tour who has surprised everyone with her consistency on clay courts, it is Maria Sharapova. Rewind to 2007 French Open, and one would be reminded of Sharapova’s million-dollar comment about her movement on the red clay, where she likened herself to a ‘cow on ice.’ Five years later, she astonished everyone when she emerged as the last person standing on the Parisian dirt – a surface which had seemed merciless to her at one point of time.

But did this radical transformation happen overnight? Perhaps the seeds of this transfiguration were sowed when she was out for ten months with shoulder surgery and rehabilitation. That sabbatical made her a more mature and patient person – something that has been reflecting in her play since her comeback. She has gradually managed to fix that wayward serve to a certain extent, strengthened the other parts of her game, and believes in herself far more these days.

Naturally, she is brimming with confidence whenever she takes the court nowadays, which has already been validated by her completion of the much-coveted Career Slam last year. Sharapova has now accumulated an unbelievable 21 consecutive victories on the red dirt, and reached another milestone by achieving 500 career wins in her Madrid semi-final match.

Head-to-head and match-up

Not a single Sharapova admirer would revel at the prospect of her meeting the lethal Serena Williams in any match, as their head-to-head reads 12-2 in the American’s favour. But if any match is to have any chance of bringing about that third win for Sharapova and her first over the American since 2004, then it is this one. The Russian has practically owned the surface since last year, and is yet to drop a set in the Spanish capital this season. She is playing with a lot more patience nowadays, and has developed a fantastic defense and really thrives on long rallies on the terre battue.

Sharapova exhibits a far more intelligent brand of tennis on the clay nowadays. She constructs her points beautifully, slides more comfortably and uses her sliced dropshots to her advantage, which she showed during the defense of her Stuttgart title this year. The Russian has also worked rigorously on her fitness, which is a very important asset to play on clay.

All this maturity has translated into her soaring confidence and her fearlessness in taking on the world’s best on any surface. Her last clash against Serena, which came at the final of Miami this year, proved she is getting close. She even led Serena with a one-set advantage.

Nevertheless, Serena remains dangerous as ever. Her thirst to win has been unquenchable since her French Open loss last year. She is still unbeaten on clay this season, and has defended her title at Charleston. She has been moving brilliantly on the surface, which is the result of months of dedicated practice under the tutelage of Patrick Mouratoglou.

Displaying tremendous athleticism at the age of 31, she is chasing every shot and is volleying deftly – something she showed in her semi-final against one of the current best clay-courters, Sara Errani. The second serve, with a lot of kick, is coming to her rescue even when she is not having one of her impeccable serving days. Most importantly, her anticipation, cross-court forehand returns off her opponent’s second serve, and the backhands even when she is stuck in the middle of the court have been spot-on.

So, if Sharapova manages to keep her service errors to a minimum, the summit clash will turn out to be quite an evenly-matched contest. But when push comes to shove, there’s nobody better than Serena Williams and this is what should make the difference. Her resolute determination and inimitable focus remain unmatched on the Tour even today. Serena’s own words at a Madrid presser gives testament to that – “I was really just staying focused and not doing too many extracurricular activities. I usually just stay in my room, really, and I’m being the most boring person you can ever imagine. That’s kind of the way I get focused.”

And that is what sounds the death knell for any opponent she faces, no matter how much gumption that opponent has.

Prediction: Serena Williams wins in three sets.