Maria Sharapova may have gotten destroyed by Victoria Azarenka in the finals of the Sony Ericsson Open Saturday, but she still managed plenty of big wins along the way. The most notable victory for Sharapova came in the semis against Andrea Petkovic whom she defeated 3-6, 6-0, 6-2. The win avenged a 4th round loss to Petko in the Australian Open, and you could tell Sharapova took pride in the win, and beating Petkovic specifically.
As LBS contributor Sam shared with us, Busted Racquet picked up on some digs Sharapova threw at Petkovic in her post-match press conference. From the transcription via Tennis-X, Sharapova said:
More than anything, I sensed that she was tired — probably a lot of the dancing that she’s been doing — and I took advantage of it.
Q. She thought you would be tired in the third after the long match you had the previous night. Didn’t seem to be that way.
MARIA SHARAPOVA: Because I didn’t do the dance after. I wasn’t tired.
In case you’re keeping count at home, that was two references to the Petko Dance in the first three questions of the press conference. That she mentioned it not once, but twice, and so early in her conference convinces me it was intentional. She must have really been irked by it and proud to have won her match, and that was her way of subtly taking a jab.
Who knows how many other players have something against Petkovic for the celebration dance? I imagine quite a few, but the good news for them is that they probably won’t have to see it again.
