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Maria Sharapova Pays Homage To Marcelo Rios
13 Comments · Posted by Scoop Malinowski in Articles, Scoop
Q. Can you talk about your memories of coming here to Key Biscayne as a little girl, and the fountain?
MARIA SHARAPOVA: Yeah. I saw they took that away, so it’s now like a little palm tree in the middle.
Yeah, I remember coming here, because we were living in Bradenton and it was just a four hour drive down. We’d watch Yevgeny Kafelnikov, and I remember watching Marcelo Rios playing. I loved watching him play, and especially the late night and all the Latin fans are still. It’s probably 11:00, close to midnight, and they were going strong.
It was a great atmosphere. So, yeah, I was a fan and now I’m a player here.
Maria: "I loved watching Rios"
13 comments
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Andrew Miller · March 27, 2013 at 2:47 pm
Maria the champ!
Scoop Malinowski · March 27, 2013 at 3:09 pm
I will ask her today after this match about practicing with Rios.
Scoop Malinowski · March 27, 2013 at 5:13 pm
Maria: “No, I didn’t practice with him but I took a picture with him. He practiced up at the Bollettieri Academy and I was quite young at the time. I don’t think he would want to hit with me [smiles]. He was too good for me. But yeah, it was nice to have a picture with him. I still have it.”
Andrew Miller · March 27, 2013 at 7:05 pm
Maria is all right. Who knew Rios inspired her. Just goes to show, you never know.
Scoop Malinowski · March 27, 2013 at 7:36 pm
It really reflects on how big Rios was 15 years ago in pro tennis, and at this very tournament in Miami. Dolgopolov and Maria both have said they were very attracted to watch Rios play his matches here in 1998 when they were just kids coming here in person. It’s very intersting they wanted to see, not Agassi, not Sampras, but Marcelo Rios. This fact speaks volumes. Marcelo Rios absolutely should be considered and respected as a legend of tennis, who played a part in inspiring the likes of Dolgpolov and Sharapova, among others.
Andrew Miller · March 28, 2013 at 1:55 pm
Think it is hard to consider Rios a legend. You ask Agassi and he will say Rios is one of the best players he’s ever played, but that for whatever reasons Rios did not accomplish what needed to be accomplished to be a legend. He’ll beat the legends, but he can’t be one. What he was certainly was a phenomena, played the game in a special way that few will master or see in their lives. It may not be fair but that’s the way it is. You don’t get the keys to the kingdom for having the ability to get the keys. You actually have to earn the keys.
Maybe if Rios had some more support in that player’s box they would have curbed his behavior and turned him into Rios, slam champ. You look at the top players these days and they are protected. I doubt Rios had that guidance, and to some extent I wonder whether Rios really loved the game. Must be something to know the game that well – better than anyone really – and not be interested in it. Agassi resolved this through his support network and through grappling with his feelings. Seems to me that Rios didn’t acknowledge his feelings for the game and then took it out on everyone else.
Yes fans are better off for Rios’ playing – it’s something to see a spectacle, and at the very least Rios’ style made other players better (who absorbed it, refined it, and use parts of it). But Rios’ stature in the game is lower than it probably should be, because he didn’t have what he needed, and didn’t really even seem to want what he had anyways.
Scoop Malinowski · March 28, 2013 at 2:50 pm
Andrew, would you consider James Dean a legendary actor?
Andrew Miller · March 28, 2013 at 6:14 pm
An impact player sure – someone we’ll never see again, probably. Legend I think is reserved for the players who won the biggest tournaments. That’s why these days we revere Federer, Nadal, Djokovic…they keep coming to every tournament with their best. I think Rios was on his way and the Petr Korda match, and likely doping of Korda, took away Rios’ slam. If Rios took the same approach he did in playing Agassi (who he loved playing) I don’t think it’s a stretch that we’d today be talking about Rios the legend instead of Rios the paradox. Hopefully someone somewhere on a tennis court is teaching some junior how to think like Rios on the court. U.S. players could do worse then watch re-runs of Rios youtube videos to learn some strategy.
Scoop Malinowski · March 28, 2013 at 6:59 pm
Is an actor a legendary actor if he didn’t win an Academy Award? Sure. James Dean in Rebel Without A Cause is one of the most iconic performances in Hollywood history. James Dean is a legend. I think there are other criteria for a great tennis player other than winning a major title – earning #1 was huge by Rios. Also, he played such a unique and admired game, which nobody else did. It did not win any majors but it was because of Rios’ head and attitude, not his talent. Safin said Rios had the talent to win TEN majors. That talent was extraordinary. I feel that special talent we all saw and remember, qualifies Rios as a legendary figure of the sport of tennis. There must not be limits and restrictions … there should be other criterias for a player to qualify and be called a “legend.”
Steve · March 29, 2013 at 11:19 am
The AA award is a subjective award and doesn’t give you legend status.
As many have said, Rios did stuff you can’t teach. Stuff you can’t learn from a ball machine or lessons yet he worked very hard in training. He’s a legendary figure among tennis nuts both for his talent and his personality.
A better comparison is Allen Iverson who never won a championship but we’ll all remember his unique and mesmerizing play. The stuff of legend.
Andrew Miller · March 29, 2013 at 11:20 am
Scoop, I think the greatest tribute to Rios’ influence is that players like Federer and Nadal (though not known to Nadal) play in ways that resemble Rios – somehow they absorbed that style of play and reproduce some of it for fans to see. Though we as fans associate this brilliant style with Federer and Nadal, obviously they stand on the shoulders of giants before them. They would include the knowns – the McEnroes, Borgs, Sampras, Agassis etc, as well as the less known like Rios, whose departure from the sport was as striking in some ways as his catapult to the top. Anyways it’s not for me to determine someone’s legacy – depends on too many elements. But I think players like Henin, Rios showed other players what’s possible. That only the very best of them (like Federer) absorbed some of Rios’ style probably shows how hard it is to master that kind of game – how hard it is to apply that way of playing, where you literally make your opponent cry because they have no idea how to win a point, let alone a game (even if Federer these days is giving away more from the bank). I don’t think anything I’ve said is all that far off the mark – that Rios’ way of playing was brilliant, that he often didn’t seem to care about tennis, that he lacked a support network, and that his results probably would have been a lot better if he grappled better with all of this or had someone there to work through this. His personal life seemed to be pretty turbulent, quite a contrast from the stability that is perceived in the lives of Federer and Nadal and Djokovic (though who knows – only that they seem personally not to have the same kind of distaste for everyone and everything!). Unfortunately the perception of dark genius created the reality. Yeah watching him was a revelation, and I see in the point construction of Nadal and Federer (or any legend) some of the ways that Rios played (of winning points before they were actually won). Agassi showed some of this too in his pushing players, like Vince Spadea wrote, until he found the exact moment to pounce. Only that Rios did this much more deliberately – I don’t think anyone playing Agassi felt they didn’t know how to play tennis, only that he played better. Baghdatis had a chance to play this kind of style but he didn’t learn what Rios knew regarding how to disguise shots. Only Federer and Nadal among the most successful players have pulled off the similar feat of making other players believe that they don’t know how to play tennis.
No doubt he’s hit the best tennis ball I’ve ever seen. But he was definitely not the best player I’ve ever seen – because the best players are the best players. Rios is a frustrating phenomenon – you know he had it in him to win slams. But for whatever reasons he never got close to seeing that possibility (though I will always think he was robbed of the chance to win the AO because of Korda’s doping!).
Andrew Miller · March 29, 2013 at 11:23 am
Exactly, I agree with what Steve said. The Iverson comparison is perfect.
Scoop Malinowski · March 29, 2013 at 2:55 pm
Good call on Iverson. Dominique Wilkins, David Thompson, George Gervin, Mark Fidrych, Thurman Thomas, also come to mind for great talents who didn’t win championships.