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 feels really great. Honestly I was having a really tough end of the year last year. You know, not a lot of people know about it, but it was very frustrating because tournament after tournament, you know, I'd be working hard and I'd be trying to get back in shape and all of a sudden my injury would bring me down again.
Of course, it's a surprise, but Kim has not played in a while, and it's hard to come back and play your best tennis. I just knew I had to worry about my match.
It's disappointing but no hard feelings, ... I know you can't win everything and you're going to lose sometimes. I'll go home and train now and get ready for the U.S. Open.
It's going to be a very big test because I haven't beaten her yet. I've done pretty well in the past few weeks. It's not always easy coming back from a Wimbledon win, and now I'm going to play a top seed on a hard court. I'm very much looking forward to it.
It's hard to get going when your body isn't there and your mind is on your pillow.
It's hard to predict things, but I'm sure it's going to be a good match.
There was a lot of rustiness, ... The first match (after a layoff) is always tough. You practice hard and work on a lot of things, but the actual competition is totally different. I was just trying to get in a groove, get my feet wet.
You practice hard and work on a lot of things, but the actual competition is totally different. I was just trying to get in a groove.
You don't want to pull out because it's a Grand Slam, but it's hard when people expect you to win.
I was in that period right after I won Wimbledon, ... The next four months, I felt like I had to win every match. It's a matter of telling yourself that it's impossible to win everything ? no matter what people say. You can't control people's actions. My big thing is to just keep working hard. Because one day, you're going to be on court and you'll win a match and realize that the hard work paid off. That's exactly what I did last year. I lost here and I worked my butt off.
In these windy conditions, it's hard to go for your shots. I think I just try to get the ball in play, hit it deep, you know, get in the point rather than try and hit a winner.
I now have two titles (singles and doubles) under my belt and it feels great, ... I think with these things, it is a matter of time. If you put in the hard work - and I have worked so hard - I think this week really showed and it paid off.
I was very disappointed (at the U.S. Open), and I went out there and I worked really hard.
When you come off the court and you feel like you were losing the whole match, and all of a sudden you pulled it out, you know, it's those moments that you feel you've trained for and you work hard for. Just lucky to get through.