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 wasn't winning that match. She was doing the right things and I wasn't.
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.
There's not many firsts in my career, as I have been a part of many tournaments and fortunate enough to win many.
I'm 17 years old and there are many great things ahead. If I don't win the U.S. Open this year, it's not going to be a disaster in my life.
Tennis has never been the most important thing in my life. My family, my health, my happiness...they are more important to me. On court, I want to win. Off court, I want to be a better person. Tennis is a path to my future.
When I come into a tournament, I'm expecting to win. That's my philosophy. I can't go to a tournament thinking, 'I'm going to get my ass kicked today, so I might as well leave.'
That is what is most special about achieving equality - the positive signal that it will send the world over to the next generation of girls dreaming of winning Wimbledon or becoming a scientist or going to the moon as an astronaut.
I don't need many things. I don't need glamour and attention to be happy. I'm very happy being settled and working my butt off and trying to win grand slams.
I'm not the next Kournikova-I want to win matches!
When you start from nothing, when you come from nothing, it makes you hungry. I am proud of where I came from and I know what I want. I want to win.
People always ask about young people like me being forced into things. I play tennis because I love it. I think Russians might be tougher than other people. When I arrived in America I was young, but I already knew what I wanted. I think that when you start from nothing, when you come from nothing, it makes you hungry. I am proud of where I came from and I know what I want. I want to win.
Whether you win a match or lose a match, in terms of your emotions, it's important to be pretty levelheaded.
You control your own wins and losses.
The score doesn't say much about the match,