Connors and Sharapova : it's over...

hugobosstachini

hugobosstachini

Professional
From sources ESPN and The Times. Twitter also has this trending. Where does Sharapova's career go from there ?

She had found stability with Hogdstedt but ditched him. She's 26 and doesn't really have a big window for winning slams considering she wins one every 2-2.5 year. She's owned by Serena Williams 14-2 and by Azarenka, only 7-6 but 7-3 on hard-courts... the last exhibition of her brand of tennis was a total massacre, 16-62 and she also lost to Larcher de Brito couple weeks ago in Wimbledon... things really don't look bright for her at the moment.
 
THUNDERVOLLEY

THUNDERVOLLEY

G.O.A.T.
As said time and again by too many to list, she is so egocentric, she cannot be coached by anyone. With her most recent loss--which was likely due to the Connors coaching--any sane mind would see that the bugs need to be worked out...but this is Sharapova, and she believes she aways has the answers.

Nevermind her spotty majors collection after more than a decade on tour. Sharapova knows best.
 
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hugobosstachini

hugobosstachini

Professional
THUNDERVOLLEY said:
As said time and again by too many to list, she is so egocentric, she cannot be coached by anyone. With her most recent loss--which was likely due to the Connors coaching--any sane mind would see that the bugs need to be worked out...but this is Sharapova, and she believes she aways has the answers.

Nevermind her spotty majors collection after more than a decade on tour. Sharapova knows best.
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At the same time, I don't see her as the type of player who can function without a coach... her game is so risky and one-dimensional that she somehow needs someone to canalize it... Hogstedt was pretty good at that.
 
AtomicForehand

AtomicForehand

Hall of Fame
Connors is such an @ssh0le that my dislike for Shut-up-ova only intensified when I heard she'd hooked up with him. Partial credit to her for dumping him so fast.
 
bjsnider

bjsnider

Hall of Fame
This whole escapade was just a big joke on us by Connors and Sharapova, right? I mean this had better be a joke. In any case, I'm laughing.
 
Terenigma

Terenigma

G.O.A.T.
Does anyone really care? It seems like all she does is try things to get attention in the media, dating Dimitrov, hiring connors. She'll probably try tweeting abuse at Serena next.
 
THUNDERVOLLEY

THUNDERVOLLEY

G.O.A.T.
Terenigma said:
Does anyone really care? It seems like all she does is try things to get attention in the media, dating Dimitrov, hiring connors.
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Well, no one really cared about dating a player the would could not name/recognize if their lives depended on it, but I think Connors was half real, half "stunt coaching" to make it seems as though she was prepared to channel the insight of a tennis legend. But, Sharapova being the "me, me, me" person she's been all along, she could not benefit from Connors for even a good two months.

Speaks volumes about her.

She'll probably try tweeting abuse at Serena next.
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Would not be surprised if that happened. Maybe Sharapova and Stephens can join forces to play "twitter loser doubles" and spread their history of hate for Serena.
 
B

bluetrain4

G.O.A.T.
Will be interesting to see what she does, who she hires, and if she can win another Slam before the end of her career. I know she is one dimensional and is owned by Serena, etc., and is getting older, but I still think she has enough game if the draw is favorable and someone else takes Serena out.

Still think she's an overachiever. A career Slam, and many other finals and deep runs, and lots of overall tournament wins with a pretty limited game. As is always said around here, the one thing you can always positively say about Maria is that she tries hard, she's a fierce competitor, she works hard.

It's amazing that she's only 26. What does TW think. Is Sharapova a player where age is going to matter that much if she still has the desire? She was never a good mover, it wasn't the foundation of her game, so she won't lose that as other women might as they get older. She seems to be in fairly good shape, and her body type is long and lean. If she can avoid serious injury, I can see her playing into her 30s effectively. Maybe not winning Slams, but making deep runs along with earlier-than-expected upsets.
 
borg number one

borg number one

Legend
Now that was quick! I was hoping that Connors could help Sharapova somewhat at this stage of her career. She's probably never been coached in the way Connors wanted to coach her, but I'm not sure. In the end it's her career to manage. We'll see how the next few years go for her. Jimmy Connors is not the kind of guy that would just take a big salary to do it any other way than his way, in terms of tennis coaching. She would have had to either take his advice and try her best to implement some of the changes he suggested, or he wouldn't stay on as coach.

Tennis was never work for me, tennis was fun. And the tougher the battle and the longer the match, the more fun I had. - Jimmy Connors
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People don't seem to understand that it's a damn war out there. - Jimmy Connors
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hugobosstachini

hugobosstachini

Professional
bluetrain4 said:
Will be interesting to see what she does, who she hires, and if she can win another Slam before the end of her career. I know she is one dimensional and is owned by Serena, etc., and is getting older, but I still think she has enough game if the draw is favorable and someone else takes Serena out.
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Sharapova doesn't have a big window anymore and the worst thing is that she's wasting even more time. She wins slams every 2 years or so... I guess her next title would be around 27-28, then she'd be 30 to win a 6th one... If Sharapova doesn't grab 1 slam in the next 5, for me she's done winning majors.

Still think she's an overachiever. A career Slam, and many other finals and deep runs, and lots of overall tournament wins with a pretty limited game. As is always said around here, the one thing you can always positively say about Maria is that she tries hard, she's a fierce competitor, she works hard.
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Agree with that section...

It's amazing that she's only 26. What does TW think. Is Sharapova a player where age is going to matter that much if she still has the desire? She was never a good mover, it wasn't the foundation of her game, so she won't lose that as other women might as they get older. She seems to be in fairly good shape, and her body type is long and lean. If she can avoid serious injury, I can see her playing into her 30s effectively. Maybe not winning Slams, but making deep runs along with earlier-than-expected upsets.
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No, it will impact her even more than any other players... I think one of the first things that starts declining the quickest in a tennis player with age is ability to focus, concentration and things of the sort. She would still very much be able to play and be a top ten player even without much movement but not if her level of fighting spirit, determination, grit... declines.

Indeed, you illustrated pretty well how Sharapova wins her matches so logically, any slight decline in these specific departments and considering her style of play, she'd never be the same player. She'd be just like these other head-case ball-bashers of the regular tour with an incomprehensible error infested game. Because of her exceptional mental game, she's still able to set herself apart from them ; for how long ?

Another thing is we're not talking about a player like Victoria who entered her prime at 23... Sharapova started playing at 17 and next year will make it her 10th straight year... Sharapova does have a lot of mileage.

Anyways, we'll see how things go for her.
 
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hrstrat57

hrstrat57

Hall of Fame
Unlike most around here I guess expect she will be fine and have a strong open.

She still hits big and her focus is good. She simply got beat the other night and probably found her new coach did not help her with the negativity we saw on camera.
 
ollinger

ollinger

G.O.A.T.
I think the usual next step here is to wheel out Tony Roche and announce she's going to become more of a net rusher.
 
T

TennisCJC

Legend
I heard she wanted to borrow that pink sweater that Connors wore to their on court practice sessions. He said no and she fired his butt right on the spot.
 
S

sureshs

Bionic Poster
That is the way guys like Connors should be treated, because that is how they diss others to make money.
 
Goosehead

Goosehead

Legend
no surprise..sharapova is sooo precious and jimmy is..erm, well he is jimmy isn't he ?

her 'princess maria' attitude mixed with Connors who hasn't been noted for his emotional intelligence..

it.
was.
never.
going.
to.
be.
harmonious..
and it was not.

never mind maria can take out all her angst and frustration out on serena if they meet at usa open..:twisted: but then again, maybe not :twisted:
 
R

rajah84

Semi-Pro
Connors made out. Nike provides for it's many cast members.

The whole thing was arranged guys. He was there to be hired and fired before the USO. Hope you guys figure this out before someone else gets fired :)
 
S

Sid_Vicious

G.O.A.T.
90's Clay said:
What career has Connors NOT ruined yet? ROFLMAO. First Roddick now Sharapova
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Sharapova only lost one match with Connors and pulled the plug on the whole teamup. How exactly did Connors ruin her career in one match, genius?


Roddick was outside the top 10 when he hired Connors and one year later he was ranked number 3 in the world. Connors never returned Roddick to his 2003 glory, but he helped his game a lot in 2006.

So, ROFLMAO at you not making sense as usual.
 
D

dafinch

Banned
ROTLMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This was like when a guy play craps, makes his point, and immediately sevens out, the stick man sometimes tongue in cheek drawls, "Well, he wasn't good, but he was QUICK!" (and if the guy is unlucky, he may hear the same comment in a far more intimate setting, lol).


Shriekapova is like a weekend tennis player who has an overinflated view of their own ability: they make a hideous unforced error, and stare balefully at their racquet: it ain't the racquet, Chump, it's the toad holding on to it! The Praying Mantis in a Skirt is, IMO, finished as far as winning majors are concerned.
 
T

tistrapukcipeht

Professional
I don't know how that even started, Connors is the worst coach out there, outdated technique and strokes, worst commentator...facepalm anyone.
 
L

Laurie

Guest
I haven't followed the situation closely but it seems like Connors is getting a lot of flak here. Maybe people who don't appreciate Connors are using this opportunity to get the boot out.

But it was Sharapova who made the decision to hire him and then fire him after one match. It could be that Sharapova is actually "uncoachable" at this stage. One of you guys pointed out other coaches will take any money they can get to coach Sharapova; true but then Sharapova would then be hiring a "yes man" and that will no good either.

It will be interesting to see how Sharapova gets herself out of this mess.
 
Mick

Mick

Legend
perhaps Sharapova couldn't handle how Connors worded his advices. I remember watching Michael Joyce giving on court coaching advices and Sharapova was pretty sensitive. MJ had to tone it down a few times.
 
THUNDERVOLLEY

THUNDERVOLLEY

G.O.A.T.
tistrapukcipeht said:
I don't know how that even started, Connors is the worst coach out there, outdated technique and strokes, worst commentator...facepalm anyone.
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You are going overboard with your hatred.

One, Connors has a universe of insight Sharapova would never match if she lives to be 1000.

Two, his commentating has nothing to do with his skills as a coach.

Three, his so-called "outdated" techniques are superior to every part of Sharapova's game.
 
D

dafinch

Banned
That's 3 coaches since 2010, right? If 5 people tell you that you're drunk, maybe you should lie down. So, two more coaches in the next year or two, and maybe she should lie down(and not with her Boy Toy)?
 
vandre

vandre

Hall of Fame
90's Clay said:
What career has Connors NOT ruined yet? ROFLMAO. First Roddick now Sharapova
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Roddick "ruined" his own career although I believe you can also say that fed helped ruined Roddick's career; however, I was hoping that jimbo would make improvements to Roddick's and pova's return games (especially roddicks, he would have been downright scary with a better return game).

Mick said:
perhaps Sharapova couldn't handle how Connors worded his advices. I remember watching Michael Joyce giving on court coaching advices and Sharapova was pretty sensitive. MJ had to tone it down a few times.
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I remember when this hiring was announced there was also a rumor floating around that she was going to hire stefanki instead of Connors. I personally thought that she would have benefited more from stefanki and I thought he might be easier for her to coexist with but really the question in my mind is "how coachable is sharapova these days?" she goes out there with the plan of hitting everything as hard as she can and go for everything. I don't think there's a coach alive who's going to convince her to spin her second serve in or to not go for the lines so much or to aim higher over the net and hit her groundies with more topspin.

not that she's hurting for money or anything, but she might as well just get a hitting partner rather than paying a coach she's probably not going to listen to.
 
M

Midaso240

Legend
dafinch said:
That's 3 coaches since 2010, right? If 5 people tell you that you're drunk, maybe you should lie down. So, two more coaches in the next year or two, and maybe she should lie down(and not with her Boy Toy)?
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Calm down mate,I think you'll find many other players go through quite a lot of coaches as well
 
veroniquem

veroniquem

Bionic Poster
I always thought Connors was a terribly wrong match for her anyway. Never understood what motivated her to make that decision.
 
abmk

abmk

Bionic Poster
Sid_Vicious said:
Sharapova only lost one match with Connors and pulled the plug on the whole teamup. How exactly did Connors ruin her career in one match, genius?


Roddick was outside the top 10 when he hired Connors and one year later he was ranked number 3 in the world. Connors never returned Roddick to his 2003 glory, but he helped his game a lot in 2006.

So, ROFLMAO at you not making sense as usual.
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the last sentence is too kind. It should've been more like : "So, ROFLMAO at you speaking rubbish as usual"
 
T

TMF

Talk Tennis Guru
gavna said:
JOKE? his contract was for $20,000 per week!!!!! That's NOT Joking money.
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That's a million a year, but Maria is the highest paid female athlete so 1 million doesn't hurt. I don't know who makes more than 20K per week as a coach. Maybe Paul Annacone.
 
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