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
Ive been playing against older and stronger competition my whole life. It has made me a better tennis player and able to play against this kind of level despite their strength and experience.
Reaching the No. 1 ranking has been a lifelong goal of mine, and achieving it here in Los Angeles would have been a dream come true. I am eager to get back to feeling 100 percent healthy and playing as soon as possible.
That wasn't really a match for me. I was already in the semis, so I just wanted to save my energy. Obviously, she must be playing great tennis but I just need to go out there and step it up if I want to be in the semis.
You can be playing great tennis the past week, you come out and no matter how good you might have been playing, the level of tennis goes down the drain simply because of the wind.
I'm so excited to be here, to be one of the top eight girls, ... It's great to be playing where the (Los Angeles) Lakers play. You just feel the excitement. I know I went out there and played my game. I was on.
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's playing pretty well to beat the No. 1 player. It will be my job to stop her.
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.
Eight weeks ago, I wasn't sure if I was playing tennis again. So to be out here feeling healthy and being able to move and hit my shots, that part alone feels great to me, let alone actually playing well. So now all of a sudden I'm faced with the reality that I can actually go enjoy the Open this year because I'm doing a few things right, which is nice to feel. I like where I am right now.
It will be really exciting playing Martina. I've never played her before. Obviously, it will be a tough match.
You're playing a great champion, someone that's obviously achieved a lot in her career. And she's still young. Any opponent that I see across the net, I cannot think about whether they're terrible or they're great. I can't put that in my mind.
I played a good match, but I guess I was a little tired from yesterday. But I am happy with the way the season is shaping up and I am looking forward to playing her again.
It's never easy coming back after being a set up and then being up 3-1 and all of a sudden it becomes 3-all. You know, it's going to be a different match from there. But I guess I was playing the right way yesterday. When the rain started coming down, the conditions got a lot heavier. I was rushing it a little bit. I guess it was good just to have a good night's sleep.