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
But strange things do happen in tennis and today's match was one of them.
I was sick, down with flu and an upper respiratory illness.
I would be lying if I said I wasn't nervous before the match, ... I knew she was a strong player. I wasn't myself on the court today.
I got off to a great start and then maybe I wasn't aggressive enough and let her into the match in the second set. I don't know exactly what happened, I just lost my concentration a bit, but was able to get back on track in the final set.
I go there to play and would like to play against strong opponents. I always enjoy high-level competition,
I grew a few centimeters this year and I'm still getting used to my height,
Obviously, I felt a little tired but that's normal after playing four straight weeks. I mean, I'm not gonna feel great. My body's not gonna feel great. That's absolutely normal. But I just have to give it all I had, and I tried. But, you know, at the end of the day, just come up short. That's all right.
She was able to come back from tough points and play a few more. I was just not able to keep up with that pace and that was the key.
She tried to mix it up a little at the end of the first set and I knew it would be physically harder. Mentally, I told myself it doesn't matter how many balls it takes, you're going to do everything possible to get one more ball back.
She was picking the ball up very early. She used my pace as well as the quickness of the court to her advantage. She made some great shots even on the defensive side.
She was picking the ball up early. She used my pace and the quickness of the court to her advantage and came up with some very good shots.
She's very young and has a great future.
She was just too good on those long points.
She's an experienced player. I have to move on and there are so many things I have to work on.