Maria Sharapova has a 17-match losing streak against Serena Williams. All of those matches have come with Sharapova playing right-handed.
Whether she would've had the same problem against the world's No. 1 player had she played left-handed is up for debate.
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The Oregonian, showing photos of tweets the Russian tennis star posted when she took a golf lesson, noted that Sharapova was striking the ball left-handed and reported that she is a natural southpaw.
"I'm actually naturally a lefty," she said in 2010, according to Tennis-x.com. "When I was younger I played left-handed for a little bit, and then I played two hands on both sides. Then I switched back to right-handed."
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Coach Rick Macci witnessed her potential as an 11-year-old, but she had trouble with her forehand using her right.
"It was very, very problematic," Macci wrote in his instructional memoir, "Macci Magic." "I'm talking every fifth or sixth ball, she'd make an error or the ball would fly out. She couldn't grab the ball. Just the whole mechanics of the swing was incorrect. It was an issue, a major issue."
According to the memoir, Macci discussed switching Sharapova back to a lefty, which her father Yuri favored because her forehand swing was more natural and fluid from that side.
However, she didn't hit the ball as hard.
That wasn't what stopped Macci from implementing the change. Her two-handed backhand from the left side was as problematic as her forehand from the right.
"She was scrunched and cramped up when she hit the ball," Macci wrote. "Her point of contact wasn't natural. So it's almost like we've got the same scenario but on the other side of the body!"
Sharapova eventually stayed a right-handed player and has won five Grand Slams as a result. But her lack of success against Williams does give pause to the consideration that the change of direction of the ball could've given Serena more trouble.
But the Oregonian also points out that while Williams from time to time lets her play slip a bit, that usually never happens when Sharapova is on the other side of the court.
"And she's always motivated against Sharapova, who with her blondness and her long legs is the tour's marketing queen, despite being far less successful than Williams on the court," the Oregonian reports.
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