Vinci Came, Saw and Was Conquered

Maria Sharapova may not be seeded number one at the U.S. Open or be ranked number one in the world, but she looked every bit the part of defending champion and, at least on this blog, favorite in her 6-0, 6-1 dismantling of Roberta Vinci in 50 minutes.
Wearing a seamless dress and playing a virtually seamless game, apart from two double faults in her last service game, Sharapova got the cold shoulder from the night crowd, who sounded like they might be on the verge of booing her when she announced her red dress was in honor of the Big Apple. Either Sharapova sounded too programmed or the notoriously fickle New York crowd was annoyed that Sharapova never let Vinci into the match or the spectators were disappointed that Sharapova let her game do the speaking for her rather than any of her usual bag of tics. To my utter delight, I heard not one "come on" from her the entire match.
The crowd was as silent after Sharapova's win as she had been on the court during her extremley brief first round. (Does it still count as a whole round when it's that brief?!) It was as though the crowd had been programmed coming in to not like the person who stood before them, almost unaware that, for all the hype and marketing that has surrounded Sharapova, there even still might be a person there.
It made for a strange ending. Sharapova autographed a few balls and was out of the stadium almost as quickly as the vanquished Vinci.
Only Sharapova will be back. And there can be little doubt of the program she has in mind--six more wins.
It's a program that may once again fit her perfectly.