Kafelnikov’s countrywoman, Maria Sharapova, will take on the world no. 1 Serena Williams in the semi final round of the Miami Masters tennis tournament.
Both these players absolutely crushed their opponents in their quarter final matches. Serena was playing against Angelique Kerber of Germany whom she dismissed in the straight sets in just about an hour, while, Sharapova did the same to the Czech player Petra Kvitova.
Sharapova’s record against Serena in the last one decade has been absolutely pathetic. She has been beaten by the American legend time and time again in the recent times. The last 14 matches between these two players have gone in the favour of Serena.
As far as the Miami Masters is concerned, Serena and Sharapova had locked horns in this competition last year as well, not in the semis, but, in the final and that fixture was completely dominated by Serena.
The American would like to do it again. She must not take Sharapova lightly though especially after the form that the Russian beauty queen has shown in her last couple of matches.
The advantage for Serena is that she knows the conditions at Miami inside out. Most of the players who come over here face some problems when the speed of the wind increases, but, not Serena. She changes her game accordingly.
Talking to the reporters about her last match, Serena said, “Angelique is one of the top players in the world. So, to beat her, I needed to raise the standard of my game and thankfully, I succeeded in doing that.”
“Wind is always a factor here in Miami. It can pick up at any time and when it does, it becomes important for you as a player to focus even harder.”