Translated material
Masha "ours" and "not ours"
It is clear that all people who write about sports cannot overcome the fan complex within themselves. But this complex should not obscure an honest look at the object of “pain.” Even if Masha came to play for Russia in the Fed Cup only because she really wants to perform at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing and according to the rules she is obliged to appear in the national team at least once, even if some of the other Russian tennis players have envy or ambiguous attitude towards perhaps the most successful domestic athlete of the beginning of the century - all this is not a reason to base assessments of Sharapova on any criteria other than the quality of her game itself.
You can love Masha or not, but it would simply be dishonest not to give her credit as an honest athlete who plays to her maximum potential. Yes, the Russian national team in the Fed Cup has a chance to meet the US national team again, and here Masha, who lives in the States and has commercial interests there, will be faced with a difficult problem: to play or refuse. Yes, Sharapova, like every living person, has triumphant matches and tournaments, and there are sharp declines. But her injured shoulder was hardly an excuse: at least while on the court (and performance can only be judged on the court), she gave no reason to accuse herself of faking it, fighting even when she was clearly in pain.
It is clear that in the attitude of ordinary people towards every great athlete (as, indeed, any representative of a public profession) there is only one step from love to hatred. We are ready to immoderately admire our idols at the moment of their triumph and violently throw them off the pedestal at the first defeat, completely forgetting all our past assessments. But our natural fan emotions should not extend to fundamental assessments of this or that athlete in the media.
Having won three Grand Slam tournaments, Sharapova has already written her name in the history of world and Russian tennis as a great player. And in her debut match for the Russian national team against Israel, even if this match remains the only one in her career, Masha did not for a second give reason to doubt her honest and professional attitude to the matter. Moreover, against the background of unprecedented boorish behavior of Israeli fans and obvious psychological pressure.
Still, in recent years, the Russian national team, which has been brilliantly performing in the Federation Cup - the strongest team in the world in the 21st century - has never had such an obvious number one with such an unobvious ability of other tennis players to win single matches. At the same time, Masha is still very young to calmly endure this burden of obvious leadership in her very first match for the national team, with which - mainly due to too negative assessments of her previous refusals in the media - she has developed a difficult relationship. But in the end, Masha confidently won both of her singles matches, doing the maximum possible for her team.
With her play and attitude, Masha has earned a professional attitude from those who write about the game, and not about the glamorous component of Sharapova’s life. She, if we are proud of her successes as a Russian tennis player, although in terms of tennis education she has nothing in common with Russia, has earned the full right to be “our Masha.” And therefore we must treat with the same measure of objectivity and human empathy in difficult situations as we treat other Russian tennis players.
It just so happens that the coverage of Sharapova’s career in the Russian media will test their ability to do their job at least half as professionally as Masha herself does her job.