Why did Serena Williams beat Maria Sharapova so often?

Let's look at Serena Williams' dominance over Sharapova by breaking down the physical and mental factors. If you don't want all the details, jump down to the summary in the last paragraph of this article. PHYSICAL FACTORS. read more

Maria Sharapova’s first significant breakthrough in professional tennis was her victory over Serena Williams in the 2004 Wimbledon final. In the years since then, the matchup has been one-sided; Williams has won their last 18 matches. read more

To beat Serena, Sharapova will need to stay in/close to the baseline, dictate the point, and move Serena around the court. She'll also need to hit her rally shots consistently deep to where Serena must play defensively and more or less just get the ball across the net. read more

Serena has often said it’s not so much about the feeling of winning but rather avoiding the feeling of losing. Those back-to-back losses in 2004 were a bitter pill to swallow and Serena’s made it her mission to never suffer that feeling again at the hands of Maria Sharapova. read more