Maria Sharapova vs Tatiana Golovin 2006 US Open Highlights

[suddenlyitsobvious]

In the early mid-2000s there were lots of interesting players, much more so than today. The Williams sisters, Capriati, Pierce, Hingis, Golovin, Mauresmo, Henin, Vaidisova, even Clijsters up to a point.

Very different styles & personalities. It's gotten very boring now, personality-wise...

Same thing in the men's game.

[rlopen13]

Both of these players got injuries that made them never be the same again! Tatiana's not going to play tennis anymore and Maria has lost some of her power and dominance in her matches.

[potterfansteve]

When Golovin burst onto the scene she had one of the most dangerous shots in women tennis going - her forehand! And as Ivanovic cam along and over took her in the rankings, she seemed to affe away. Now she's permanently retired and it's a shame because she could have been so great!

[kimskis]

Maria was hitting her forehand like a BOSS at this slam...amazing power and accuracy

[nicolovestennis]

OMG THE FISTPUMP!

[monettalan]

i hope maria will play like this again... specially the serve... i really miss this MARIA

[kelvinpyaeko]

LOLzzz at an apparently golovin fan saying "out" at 09:41 at the challenge haha

[jujubombgoesboom]

Maria's such a joy to watch because she puts her whole heart in a match and she has so much intensity. I LOVE HER SO MUCH!

[jessietennis2112]

it was so very sad wen she did her acheleies tendon against sharapova in miami i think

[Bragofan]

Wow, she's so fast here. And now she seems so much more sluggish and hesitant. Come back home Pova!!

[AmaziingChampiion2]

Delicious match!

[pietje164]

woo.. i miss golovin...-_-

[oobalavivida]

Wow, I miss seeing Maria play like this. So fearless and not afraid of whatever her opponent threw at her. So much power off both wings. Nothing could stop her in this tournament. Whenever she puts her mind to something, she is so tough to beat. It seems like her she's lacking in confidence and motivation? I really hope a grand slam for her in 2011.

[JamieOwen03]

@oobalavivida i can't stress how hard it was for her to even make a comeback as she's the ONLY player ever to do so after the type of injury she had, no one has ever come back after getting the same injury, although it's not nice seeing maria lose to players she shouldn't at times im grateful to get to see her play at all, poor tati fans and other plkayers fans who their favs had to retire early is who i feel sorry for.

[oobalavivida]

@JamieOwen03 That's so true! If it weren't for her mental toughness, her will to win and to fight, she never would've survived that injury. Look at Del Potro. When he returned to tennis, he didn't win a match and lost both of his matches in straight sets. The fact that Maria was able to come in only her 1st and 2nd tournaments back and win so many matches is incredible. What she really needs to do though is work on her serve, and try to limit her unforced errors. it's difficult for her because

[oobalavivida]

@oobalavivida her game relies so much on power. I still pray to god that Maria can win another grand slam. If she can just work on getting fitter, and try to slice her serves up a bit, she will have a great chance. The problem is the field is so much tougher than it was in the first few years of her career, but you got to hand it to her; she's not giving up, she's fighting. I pray from the bottom of my heart it will all pay off some time.

[JamieOwen03]

@oobalavivida i agree to an extent :) i think 2004-2008 was a very strong period in womens tennis personally during that time you had davenport serena (sometimes lol) venus justine kim - (until mid 07) mauresmo the other russians were stronger than ever mary pierce got her career back, she played in avery strong field. her situation just is what it is. sadly. but i believe in her as do many of her fans and that's all we can do is pray and keep believing.

[oobalavivida]

@JamieOwen03 Well, that is true but you really didn't have a lot of dangerous floaters back then. Nowadays, you can never really underestimate any of your opponents because anyone is capable of pulling of an upset in an early round. The big names back in those days would also be certain for a semifinal or quarterfinal berth at a grand slam, but nowadays you can never be too sure because there will always be a dangerous floater who can cause an upset.

[JamieOwen03]

@oobalavivida very true!

but it also gets me thinking, is it the depth that's gotten better or is it just the top is not as strong?

[oobalavivida]

@JamieOwen03 That's also an possibility, but either way, tennis is a lot more "unpredicatable" now. Can you imagine what's going to happen to the WTA once the William Sisters, Henin and Clijsters retire? God, we'll be having a new World No. 1 every single week.

[xx360]

great great great, thank u so much for these HL

[tennisboy2612]

where is golovin ?what happend to her?

[orbitalwarrior]

@tennisboy2612 I believe she has stopped, not officially though, but I read somewhere she had a certain malformation of the spine, which would always cause her problems.

[WTAtennisfan15]

I love it! Maria was hitting so well!

[Nuxice]

@WTAtennisfan15 And she can't now.

[petunia0809]

@Nuxice she will in 2011 ^^

[Nuxice]

@petunia0809 I'm honestly a Sharapova fan but she just keeps on disappointing me these days. And yes, I hope she will. :)

[milot1masha]

Great Match from Maria especially after having trouble with Golovin in Miami earlier that year.And Jamie I love the logo placement!

[rambaldioo]

thks a lot love them! what a match! i think maria will have a great us open this year, but i think tati will never come back because of her injury....