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
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 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.
Without playing great, without having a forehand or a serve, you win. The bad thing is I can't really hit a big serve and you feel like crap.
Without playing great, without having a forehand or a serve, you win, ... The bad thing is I can't really hit a big serve and you feel like crap.
This was the first really hot day. It's good to get through these kind of matches.
The forehands or backhands don't mean much after three hours.
If I loved a guy as much as I love my dog, the guy would be in serious trouble. Because I'm all over that dog, all the time.
But my most successful year was last year because I won my first grand slam at Wimbledon.
We've had such tough matches and I've been able to pull through three in a row - it's a confidence boost.
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,
Most of the top players are playing, aren't they?
Mentally, ... I wasn't there. I didn't have any motivation. But I was better in the third set; I started making the great passing shots that I needed to break her.
Mentally it was pretty tough, when you know you've got a very patient opponent and you know that it's really hot out there.