Six-time Grand Slam champion Boris Becker has claimed that Maria Sharapova needs to be more aggressive from the start if she is to beat Serena Williams in the Australian Open final this weekend.
The Russian has only triumphed twice in her 18 meetings against the current world number one, and both of those victories came in 2004.
"Maria has not beaten Serena in 10 years. It's a damning statistic for the Russian to be staring at on the eve of her final against Serena, but there is no doubt that Serena troubles her like no other player on the circuit," Becker told Gulf News.
"Maria's default setting is to attack from the start, but Serena never allows her to do that. Such is the power and aggression that Serena displays at the start of each of their encounters that Maria has to take a step back and play a more defensive game. This is not what she likes to do and soon her defence starts crumbling and Serena walks away the winner.
"Maria would need to reverse this by coming into the game with a lot of aggression. Her only hope is to get Serena on the defensive at the start and then build on that. My prediction is that it will be a fluctuating three-setter, with Serena eventually extending her streak over Maria."
Sharapova last won the Australian Open in 2008, beating Ana Ivanovic 7-5 6-3 in the final.
Alex Meyers
