Maria Sharapova
Maria Sharapova
Maria Yuryevna Sharapova; born April 19, 1987) is a Russian professional tennis player. A United States resident since 1994, Sharapova has competed on the WTA tour since 2001. She has been ranked world No. 1 in singles by the WTA on five separate occasions, for a total of 21 weeks. She is one of ten women, and the only Russian, to hold the career Grand Slam. She is also an Olympic medalist, having earned silver for Russia in women's singles...
NationalityRussian
ProfessionTennis Player
Date of Birth19 April 1987
CityNyagan, Russia
CountryRussian Federation
It was a lot tougher than it seemed. I needed to find a way to win every single point. You know, it's all right. Still got through it without serving great.
It was disappointing to lose today, but it won't have any impact on my game in China,
It was the first day that it's been really hot like this. It's good to get through these kind of matches and I'm looking forward to the next one.
It was really close in the first set, and then I just went for too much at the wrong times. She's on a big winning streak and that is giving her more and more confidence.
It was a very tough match. I came here to win and didn't want to lose early, so I'm relieved to have that first win.
It's absolutely amazing, I can't believe I pulled this match out today, there were so many ups and downs, and somehow I found a way to fight, but a lot of credit to Nadia, she played an amazing match,
It's actually shocking. Before I was trying to lay off the whole thing, saying, ‘I'm not worried about it, it's not important.' But you know, once you get there, it's, like, wow!
That's one of the first times I played a match without feeling anything.
That makes it tougher, but that's what it's all about,
It's like he's Mr Perfect and nothing's going wrong for him at this point,
A lot of it has to do with her seeing the ball early, and she knows what you're going to do.
Wow! It's absolutely amazing, I can't believe I pulled this match out today,
Women's tennis players are getting as many sponsors and media coverage as men, and our TV ratings at the Grand Slams are pretty much equal to and often better than the men, so I don't understand the rationale for paying the men more than us.
Women's tennis is at such a high level now that any of the top 10 or 20 players could give me a tough match. Martina is on her comeback and no doubt will reach the top again but I don't have a specific rival here.