Editor's note: On Aug. 17, Ravi Ubha began unveiling the top 10 reasons to watch the 2009 U.S. Open. Check back each weekday until Aug. 28 as we count down to No. 1.
No. 7: Maria and her serving woes
What is it with Russians and double faults?
Anna Kournikova's woes began in 1998 and peaked a year later at the Australian Open with an agonizing 31 doubles in the second round. Unbelievably, the pinup still won. For years, Elena Dementieva struggled with double faults, rectifying things for the most part last year following work with respected coaches Harold Solomon and Andy Brandi. Nikolay Davydenko, too, was painful to watch when he could barely land a serve at the end of 2007. (Remember Davydenko's clash with a sympathetic Marcos Baghdatis at the Paris Masters? You know, the one in which French chair ump Cedric Mourier gave him serving tips.)
Now it's Maria Sharapova's turn. Unlike her compatriots, Sharapova's foibles stem from shoulder surgery. At this month's East West Bank Classic in Los Angeles, Sharapova, in case you missed it, contributed 16 doubles in a three-set loss to surging Italian Flavia Pennetta. Then Wednesday, 17 doubles popped up. This time, Sharapova won, battling past Austrian mom Sybille Bammer at the Rogers Cup in Toronto.
To a large extent, that's to be expected. Sharapova has understandably shortened her service motion. According to hitting partner-turned-coach Michael Joyce, the goal is to minimize unnecessary movement in her shoulder and arm.
Sharapova might not right the ship in time for the U.S. Open. In fact, if the 22-year-old faced the game's fiercest female returner, Serena Williams, knowing she needs to get those first serves in, more doubles could flow.
Given her competitiveness and work ethic, though, she's sure to overcome the problem in the not-too-distant future. Sharapova is, after all, miles ahead of Dementieva, Davydenko and Kournikova in mental toughness.
"There's nothing that a basket of balls can't achieve," she said in Los Angeles.
Sharapova missed the 2008 U.S. Open thanks to the bum shoulder, so tennis' top celebrity will be a welcome sight at Flushing Meadows. Her bittersweet romance at the tournament includes winning in 2006 and exiting thanks to wily Pole Agnieszka Radwanska in a blustery third-round affair as the defending champ.
Ravi Ubha is a London-based journalist. He holds a business degree from McGill University and a journalism diploma from Concordia University, both in Montreal, where he formerly covered baseball and hockey. Ubha is a tennis and soccer contributor to ESPN.com, also featuring in other publications, and does play-by-play in tennis.
Kamakshi Tandon is a freelance writer and tennis junkie who contributes regularly to ESPN. She has also written for Tennis magazine, Reuters and Dow Jones Newswires. Tandon is based in Toronto.
Sandra Harwitt, a graduate of New York University's School of Journalism, covers tennis for various media outlets. Harwitt has been accepted to pursue a part-time master of science in strategic communications at Columbia University. She is based in South Florida and New York.
Matt Wilansky is the tennis editor for ESPN.com. He joined ESPN in 1998 after graduating with a B.A. in communication from the University of Hartford.
