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There was no stopping the coronation in Queens. Through precise and powerful groundstrokes, punctuated by a shriek, Maria Sharapova would have her second Grand Slam title, this one near her spiritual Madison Avenue home.
But despite a career so manicured that even her water breaks are commanded by edict, she jumped so hard after lifting up the silver champion's trophy that the lid popped off and tumbled to the ground. And then she leaned her head back and laughed with abandon like the teenager she is.
The Arthur Ashe Stadium sellout crowd was behind the 19-year-old Russian, who basked in the lights at the U.S. Open. When her 6-4, 6-4 win over No. 2 Justine Henin-Hardenne was complete Saturday night, she gave another scream — this time for joy.
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Sharapova, the second seed, then made the ceremonial winner's climb up to her player box and hugged her father, Yuri Sharapova. It had been two years since she won Wimbledon, punctuated by five slams where she was dead-ended in a semifinal.
"I experienced it two years ago, and I knew that I wasn't done," Sharapova said. "I had a lot more in me."
As the red carpet was rolled out for the trophy presentation, Sharapova made a phone call on her Motorola and put on a wristwatch. Viewers at home could once again watch the Nike commercial she starred in. This is a player the marketers love, with estimated earnings of $19 million a year, according to Forbes.
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Henin-Hardenne, the winner of the French this year, was only the seventh woman to reach the final of all four Grand Slam events in a single year. Even though the Belgian had managed to beat Sharapova in four of their previous five meetings, she was able to muster just a single break point.
"She's been a real fighter tonight," said Henin-Hardenne of Sharapova. "The better player won tonight."
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It came during Sharapova's first service game, which included two of her four double faults. The 6-foot-2 Russian immediately broke back, and broke Henin-Hardenne a second time to go up 5-4 by nailing a deep forehand which the Belgian couldn't handle.
In the second set, the two were on serve until Henin-Hardenne pushed her to deuce by winning a 24-stroke rally when Sharapova flatly pushed a forehand into the net. The Belgian seemed to have the momentum, but Sharapova hit two aces in the next four points to stay on serve at 3-3.
"She served better than she probably did in our last meetings," Henin-Hardenne said.
On the next game, Sharapova broke Henin-Hardenne by taking advantage of a service game fraught with unforced errors and a double fault.
Sharapova again got signals from the team in her player box to indicate moments when she should eat and drink during the match.
USTA officials said that the earlier infractions — such as father Yuri acting as a puppetmaster with banana and water, and possibly signaling for his daughter to take a bathroom break after losing the second set to Amelie Mauresmo in the semifinal — did not count as coaching.
Sharapova had an at-times petulant post-match, which she began by saying, "Let's make this a positive session tonight, please. Por favor." She got into a bit of a testy exchange with reporters who asked about the signals sent from her father in the box, which led to a sentence that it's fair to say had never been uttered by a Grand Slam champion. Or anyone else, for that matter.
"I believe, at the end of the day, personally, my life is not about a banana," Sharapova said.
"It's not about what I wear. It's not about the friends that I have. My career right now is about winning a tennis match. And right now, I'm sitting here as a U.S. Open champion, and the last thing I think people need to worry about is a banana."
In her on-court winner's speech, Sharapova thanked her father by saying, "I love daddy." Either by accident or by design, at that moment, Yuri was on the Motorola phone his daughter endorses.
With the win, Sharapova earns $1.2 million, plus $500,000 in bonus money from coming in second in the U.S. Open Series during the hardcourt season this summer. She also moves up a spot to No. 3 in the WTA rankings. She, in turn, applauded the USTA for naming the grounds after Billie Jean King just before she was given her checks.
"Without Billie Jean this would not be possible," Sharapova said.
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