2013/06/20

Serena Williams Makes It Sweet 16

Serena Williams Day 2 Press Conference

By Ros Satar

 

(June 8, 2013) PARIS – How does Maria Sharapova solve a problem like Serena?

 

The answer is she doesn’t, at least not today as the head-to-head between them grew to 14-2, when Serena Williams regained the title she won back in 2002 6-4, 6-4.

 

It perhaps feels uncharitable to say that there was an air of inevitability around this final.

 

After all, the numbers do not lie and at best people wanted the match to be competitive at least, especially those who remember the London 2012 Olympic Final.

 

It is always a challenge to defend a title and Maria Sharapova certainly made her intentions clear at the start of the match, gritting her way to defending four breakpoints, before breaking Williams in the next game.

 

But of course, the world No. 1 was not standing for that – with the first set a bizarre see-saw of breaks and clutch points and “come-on’s” from them both.

 

If Sharapova was going to make her claim to defend her crown, it really had to be here to put Williams under pressure from the start.

 

You just had the feeling, though, that it was taking every ounce of effort from Sharapova to stay in contention, so it was no surprise when Williams served out for the first set, having nudged ahead again.

 

The second set started in much the same way, with a long protracted hold and the saving of many break points (again) from Sharapova.

 

Even though it came down to a single break at the start of the second set, Sharapova never stopped fighting, but Williams stepped up a gear, firing down three aces to start and finish the last game, and with it gaining her second Roland-Garros title, and her 16th Grand Slam title.

 

She now holds the most slam titles of any active player, and the sixth of all time, as well as becoming the oldest woman to win a Grand Slam in the Open Era – it may be impolite to refer to a lady’s age but just for the record, it’s 31 years, 256 days by the tournament end date.

 

Having nothing to defend here after her first round loss was a key for Williams today.

 

“I played so well leading up to the French Open last year ‑ and same thing happened again this year ‑ but I didn’t put any pressure on myself,” Wiliams said.

 

Sharapova had pointed out that Williams was serving harder that tomorrow’s finalist David Ferrer.

 

“I think growing up with Venus, you know, she’s serving so big, I was like, I want to serve big, too,” she said.

 

“So I think this definitely really helped me a lot.  Again, I am not the tallest girl on tour, but I definitely think I use my height in a very effective way, and I use it to the fullest of my ability.”

 

Seated alongside the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen, Williams admitted her had been very nervous in serving for the match.

 

“I thought, I’m not going to be able to hit groundstrokes.  (Laughter.)

“No joke.  As you see the one groundstroke I did hit went like 100 feet out.

 

“I thought to myself, Look, Serena, you’ve just got to hit aces.  That’s your only choice.”

 

Of course having been on the receiving end of those, it was an obviously reflective Sharapova who faced the press later.

 

“I think getting to the Roland-Garros final is not too shabby, so I’d say that’s a positive.  Coming back as a defending champion, I know it’s never easy to come back with that title, so I’m happy that I was able to produce good tennis within these last two weeks and come to that stage.”

 

To reverse a trend of losses against Williams dating back to 2004 is obviously a work in progress (to put it mildly), but today showed that Sharapova could go toe-to-toe with her.

 

“Some of the results against her last year were not so good.  But the match in Miami and the match here, I think I’m doing a few more right things than maybe I have done in the past, yet obviously not consistent enough.”

 

We are only half way through the season, with Wimbledon coming up, so Sharapova could at least look ahead.

 

“It’s always the one that I always want to perform well at and the one that I always look forward to.

 

“It’s not like I really need someone to give me motivation towards that.”

 

If age is just a number now to Serena, and a new number was reached today (16 Grand Slam titles), then does she have her eye on the next prize?

 

“If it means I stop at 16 or if it means I have more, I definitely want to continue my journey to get a few more.”

 

Roll on Wimbledon and the US Open.

 

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Sharapova Completes Rain-Delayed Victory over Bouchard

Maria Sharapova

By Ros Satar

 

(May 31, 2013) PARIS – Fans who braved the constant downpour were unlucky not enough to see the completion of No. 2 seed Maria Sharapova’s match against Canadian teen Eugenie Bouchard at Roland Garros on Friday.

 

Bouchard held her opening serve, but from then on it was one-way traffic in the first set, before rain stopped play with Sharapova leading 4-1.

 

With a restart under diminishing light, around 8pm CET, Sharapova found herself defending break points in both her games, before finally taking the first set.

 

The second set saw Bouchard get the first break, only for there to be two more in succession.

 

As the rain started to fall yet again on the late evening crowd, Sharapova showed absolutely no signs of wanting to come off, as Bouchard appealed to the umpire to come down from his sheltered canopy and see the conditions for himself.

 

With the Canadian serving at 2-4 Adv-40, the play was finally suspended for the day – with Sharapova looking none too happy.

 

The restart today was quick with Bouchard holding the game left in the balance, the night before.

 

However, Sharapova delivered the final coup-de-grace, breaking the teenager to advance into the third round 6-2, 6-4, where she will meet Zheng Jie.

 

Sharapova had to admit that despite wanting to stay out last night to finish the remaining games, it really was not an option.

 

“Well, at 8:45, I think when it was still raining, it was pretty tough to continue.

 

“Overall I was just happy that I finished the match and on to the next round.”

 

 

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Sharapova Defends Stuttgart Title with Victory Over Li Na

Sharapova Porsche

By Tumaini Carayol

(April 28, 2013) STUTTGART – Maria Sharapova arrived in Stuttgart as merely the defeNding champion. One Porsche mega-deal later, the Russian had almost assumed home-crowd support as fans and staff alike cheered the Russian on passionately throughout the week.

 

After her perilous struggles in the rounds before, Sharapova saved her most impressive victory for last, showcasing a performance of the highest quality to refuse Li Na her title 6-4, 6-3. The Russian struck the ball cleanly and with precision, while her movement improved dramatically overnight as she closed out the match in two impressive sets.

 

“I definitely thought it would be the toughest match of the tournament because, you know, she’s the second seed and someone I lost to last time I played against her,” she said.

 

“Probably because I knew she’d be the freshest of both of us. I tried to do the right things from the beginning and not have a let-down like I did in the other matches. I’m extremely happy that I pulled through.”

 

Sharapova’s afternoon was most succinctly summed up by a break point in set two. Chasing from side to side, the Russian found herself on the back foot as Li attempted to dominate. Eventually she stretched for a last-ditch left-handed forehand which barely trickled over, but as the Chinese number one attempted to put away the weak reply, Sharapova had already begun sprinting back to her forehand side, into the open court. A stunning on-the-run forehand down the line passing shot followed as she wrestled the break from her opponent’s grasp and hammered the final nail into the coffin that held Li Na’s title hopes.

 

“I think the main thing (in the earlier rounds) is the way that I fought,” said Sharapova later. “The way I came back from being down from, you know winning the first set.

 

“Losing the second could have been tough and easy to let the third set go but I kept fighting to give myself a chance to get into the next round. And then I played my best tennis today. So no matter how difficult those matches were, no matter how tired I was.”

 

On the question of pressure after recording a breathtaking 20th straight victory on red clay, Sharapova showcased a relaxed outlook to her outstanding previous 12 months on the red dirt.

 

“It’s more exciting. I really feel like I deserve to be in that position where I’m considered one of favorites because I needed to work to be in this position for many years. I’ve worked on getting stronger. I’ve worked on getting patient. I’ve worked on getting my game to adapt a little more on clay. There’s a reason why I’ve got myself there. It didn’t take a day, it didn’t take months, it took many years.

 

It remains difficult to name the players who will figure as the top favorites for Roland Garros as the second Grand Slam draws ever-nearer, but if one thing is for sure, it’s that Sharapova will top them all.

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Sharapova Makes Second Straight Indian Wells Final

Sharapova 2

(March 15, 2013) Maria Sharapova reached her second straight BNP Paribas Open final by beating long-time friend and fellow Russian No. 13 seed Maria Kirlenko 6-4, 6-3. Sharapova will play Caroline Wozniacki on Sunday for the title. Each woman has won the championship once – Wozniacki in 2011 and Sharapova in 2006. This will be Sharapova’s first final of 2013.

With Friday’s win, Sharapova will move up to the No. 2 ranking, moving past Victoria Azarenka. Serena Williams is No.1.

“I think I made the first set a bit more difficult than it should have been.  You know, I felt like it could have been up 4‑0,” Sharapova said.

“And she’s someone who has had a few comebacks in this tournament and really good results.  I think this is her best tournament yet.

“So, yeah, I stepped it up in the second set, you know.  First set was a little shady; second set was much better.”

“Still she had some double faults, like few in a row, and still I wasn’t able to break her, Kirilenko said.

“Well, I think the game was quite solid today, you know, from both of us.  Just, you know, she was maybe get a little bit more lucky today somewhere.”

Kirilenko is expected to move up to No. 13 in the world as of Monday, a spot away from her career high of No. 12. “I can say only the positive stuff for this tournament, she said. “ I’m happy the way I’m playing, and so it’s mean that I’m moving to the right direction.”

On Wozniacki, her opponent in the final Sharapova said: “She’s always a tough opponent.  You know, she’s a grinder.  She makes you work really hard on the court and gets a lot of balls back, you know, and has a lot of different variety.

“You know, I certainly don’t want to give her that time or those opportunities, because she’s a really good player.”

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Sharapova and Kuznetsova in Notes and Quotes at the BNP Paribas Open

Maria Sharapova

 

(March 8, 2013) World No. 3 Maria Sharapova had no problems taking out Francesca Schiavone at the BNP Paribas Open on Friday 6-2, 6-1 while 2-time major champ Svetlana Kuznetsova have to overcome a first set bagel to top  18th seed Jelena Jankovic 0-6, 6-2, 7-5.

During Sharapova’s post-match news conference, the media asked more questions about her candy “Sugarpova,”  than about the match.

Asked about her experience in this business venture:

“I think learning, you know.  One of the things that I have really picked up over the many years I have worked with different brands and people is that I never really had a solid education in my career, but I have always liked to listen and I have liked to learn.

“That was my way of learning, is through being in so many different types of meetings, whether they were creative ones, whether they were with advertisement agencies, it was just ‑‑ but at the end of it all, I was just a small part of all those big brands.

“I knew that one day ‑‑ I certainly didn’t really think that it was going to be a couple of years ago ‑‑ I would start my own business.

“Usually you would start something a lot quicker than two years, but it took two years, and I don’t regret any ‑‑ you know, launching it earlier than I did, because it took that much to get it all together and make it into a quality product and something that I really believed in.

“I wanted to do something that was different, that was very unexpected.  You know, I have been part of, you know, clothes collaboration and done things with accessories from Japanese brands to Cole Haan to working on my own collection and Nike. I  even had a perfume back many years ago.

“So I wanted this to be something unique.  And when the name came about right away, I knew that it was going to be candy, yeah.”

On possible expansion and extension of her candy line into other forms of sweets:

“Not at this point.  I see it expanding more into different businesses, whether it’s fashion or cosmetics down the line.

“But I want to get ‑‑ I mean, even though it’s been, you know, beyond my expectations, there are still so many things and so many markets that we need to get, you know.  Where now we have 12 SKUs, and we’re adding three more in a few weeks.  There are so many things to be done.

“Right now we are trying to get around the world, and that takes ‑‑ to get into one country takes at least three to four months before their own food and drug organization, you know, approves everything and ingredients.  Certain countries you have to change certain ingredients for it to be sold there, the labels in different countries have to be changed.  So many things you don’t even think about.”

Svetlana Kuznetsova

A big topic of conversation in Kuznetsova’s news conference was her on-court attire. Her match turned around by changing her outfits:

“Well, for me it’s very difficult to play in cold weather because even I tried to play in the long tight pants first set, I cannot.  I think I can do it every time I go and try, and I know I cannot play in anything ‑‑ wearing anything, because it’s just not comfortable.

“I can practice in it without problem, but when I have matches I always start to lose and I have to take it off and then all the things changes.  I don’t think I started to win because of my pants, but still, I was not moving.  (Smiling.)

“I just had to change things.”

“You know, I thought it was ‑‑ they are very tight (the pants), so they were kind of pushing my stomach so I was not so much comfortable.  It was not bothering me like so much, but after I took it off I was feeling a little bit looser.  So it’s a little bit funny.  Yeah, it’s just the pants, but I don’t blame them.  I mean, it’s all because of me.”

On playing at Indian Wells  and other tournaments during her career:

“You know, other day I was on the radio and they ask, What do you like and what do you not like in Indian Wells?  When I was younger it was too boring for me, this place.  Now I enjoy actually the tranquility of here.  Just everything is fine.

“For me, whole my career is so much ups and downs and I am just used to it, so just going along with it.  Just try to do my best this year wherever I can.”

” I believe I can play good anywhere, and I can play bad actually in the same way.  (Laughter.)

“Not actually in the same way, but I still keep it there.  Bad loses not maybe many people remember, but the wins, it always counts.”

“I mean, of course everybody comes to press, I love this.  You know, you’re tired to listening, I love this.  I mean, for sure you don’t love every week.  This is pretty clear.

“There are smaller ones which are not well organized, and it’s very difficult to go play them.  It’s not like I hate them.  There is always some good things and some bad things.

“But there is events like small you’ve got to take a train, a flight, then a ride, and then this, and then the food is not great.  These events really like I better not go play.

“But big events, I think they’re all quite good.  I mean, there are some things you don’t like about it, yeah, or you like more or less, but big events always pretty well organized.”

Follow Tennis Panorama News‘ coverage of the BNP Paribas Open here and on twitter @TennisNewsTPN.

 

 

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Clinical Sharapova Continues Her Mission, Li Na Advances

Maria Sharapova 10062012 China Open Sharapova in press with pocket book part 2

By Jaclyn Stacey

(January 20, 2013) MELBOURNE PARK, Australia – Kirsten Flipkens became the next victim in Maria Sharapova’s mission for a second Australian Open title on Sunday, the second seed demolishing her Belgian opponent in straight sets 6-1, 6-0 to progress to a quarterfinal clash with fellow Russian Ekaterina Makarova.

 

Sharapova was clinical in disposing of Flipkens, smashing away 25 winners and succeeding on 81% of first serves in play.

 

The second set was a 25 minute thumping and the fifth bageled set of Sharapova’s tournament.

 

She was understandably pleased following the easy victory, and said the key to continuing in the winning manner is to remain focused and to stick to your game.

 

“All of a sudden, especially in women’s tennis, things can change really quickly. It’s really about, you know, sticking to your game plan, being consistent, but playing your game.”

 

“You know, I didn’t start the match really great. I was facing a different type of opponent today and I was making a few more mistakes than I would have liked in the beginning.”

 

“But after, you know, I held at 2-1, you know, I really started making her play a little bit more.    Started really getting under the ball and being aggressive and just had a little bit more energy which really helped me and I carried that throughout the match.”

 

Sharapova plays Makarova in the quarterfinals who today defeated fifth seed Angelique Kerber 7-5 6-4 to progress into her second consecutive quarterfinal. Makarova is relishing the opportunity to play the second seed in a rematch of their 2012 Australian Open quarterfinal in which Sharapova won in straight sets 6-2, 6-3.

 

“I really want to play against Maria because I lost against her last year. I’m feeling really confident in my game.”

 

Elsewhere in day seven action, China’s Li Na defeated eighteenth seed Julia Goerges in straight sets. The first set was a tight encounter that lasted almost one hour with the sixth seed closing it out in a tie-break 7-6(6). The second set was was easier for 2011 Australian Open finalist as she won it 6-1 and progressed through to a quarterfinal appearance against fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska.

 

Jaclyn Stacey is a Melbourne based freelance journalist covering the Australian Open tournament as media for Tennis Panorama News.  Follow her Australian Open updates on @TennisNewsTPN. Follow her personal twitter @JackattackAU.

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Notes and Quotes from Day 7 of the 2012 French Open

Maria Sharapova

About her new candy line “SugarPova”

I’m really looking forward to the candy launch, which I think was the most exciting project that I’ve ever done before, because it’s my own business, my own investment, my own money.  It’s like a baby kind of where everything you put in, every single dollar, every minute is going into something that you’re really passionate about.

Yeah, we’re pretty much just finished all the packaging and we worked out all the creative.  Going to do the shoot for it soon.  It’s going to launch at the US Open.  We just got some really good buyers, so I’m really excited.

 

On her Father’s whereabouts:

He’s in Florida.  Yes.  He’s with my dog.

Oh, he can’t text.  It’s useless.  Yeah, the text  he writes half Russian, half English.  The words are all mixed up.  Misspelled.  I mean, it’s I just ask him to call me.  And I try to Skype with him, and that’s a nightmare because he doesn’t know like how to answer.  It’s horrible.

But I talked with him every day.  Mainly just to find out if my dog is still alive.  (Laughter).

 

 

On having her Mother around during the French Open

I have someone to fold my laundry.

I am so spoiled.  She is the best mom I could oh, if I was only 1% of the mom that she is.  But, yeah, I’m really lucky.

She’s just such a nice influence in my life, just a calm, so calm, could care less  I mean, of course she cares how I do in tennis and life, but her perspective on things and just in general is really nice to have.

 

Rafael Nadal

 

250 matches (match wins)?  Well, okay, that’s a figure.  I don’t have the impression it’s a huge number, because more and more  or, rather, you know, in 2005 I played many matches on clay.  And there was Buenos Aires, Acapulco, another one, then Valencia, Monte‑Carlo, Barcelona, Rome, Roland Garros, Stuttgart.  That’s ten, I think, ten tournaments on clay, and after this I think five or four more.

So, you see, I don’t have that many opportunities of winning that many matches.  There aren’t that many tournaments.  But maybe in the future there’s going to be more matches on clay.  Maybe the timetable will be more favorable so that I can win more titles.

Because, you see, I only play against the best players in the world, so it’s always very complicated to win titles.

Anyway, I’m very satisfied with my results on clay, and I must admit that my results on clay are quite special.

 

How he’s celebrating his birthday:

Well, nothing special, you know.  I’m here at Roland Garros.  The time has not yet come for me to celebrate.  I’d like to focus for the round of 16, and I’ll practice, as usual.

I will have my treatment, as usual.  I don’t know if there’s going to be something special, which is always the case here at Roland Garros.

I’m always very happy, because something has always been prepared for me, a cake or a very quick celebration.  If this is the case, I’ll be very happy.  But if there is nothing whatsoever, I will not really care.  I will do as I usually do.  Tomorrow is going to be a day like any other day.

 

On his new Babolat racquet:

Well, that’s not a racquet to play with but to practice.  Maybe in the future I’ll use it to play with on the courts.  But, for the time being, the only thing it can do is help the coaches in the future.

For me, there’s not much I could do in addition to what I’ve done for a number of years.  You know, well, of course I always try and improve, but, you know, at my age, at my level, it’s always more difficult to use these types of gimmicks or gadgets.

Of course, had this racquet been available two or ten or fifteen years ago, this would have helped me considerably, because it’s going to give you data, you know exactly where to hit the balls.  It’s interesting data that these things provide you with.

I think this is an interesting development.  I’d like to congratulate Babolat for this.

 

Caroline Wozniacki

 

On her “McEnroe” moment when she argued a line call at 1-1 in the second set during her loss to Kaia Kanepi:

Well, when the ball is clearly out, I don’t think there should be anything to argue about.  You know, if they cannot see, they should have other umpires on the lines or invent Hawk‑Eye on these courts.

It’s a disgrace that, you know, mistakes like this are made.  It wasn’t even like, you know, could have been in, could have been out.  It was clearly out.

You know, also, when a ball travels 5 miles an hour in the third set at 1 All, you know, I think either the linesman or the main umpire should be able to see the ball, as well.

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A Peek Into WTA All-Access Hour in Toronto

Victoria Azarenka and reporter at WTA All-Access Hour in at Rogers Cup in Toronto

By Brodie McPhee

TORONTO, Canada – The WTA held All-Access Hour at the Rexall Centre on Monday with the Top 8 women’s seeds for  Rogers Cup.

Kim Clijsters said that she is “excited” to make her return to tennis at the Rogers Cup. She admitted that she “shouldn’t have played” the French Open, but said “I gave it a go and I don’t regret it”.

After withdrawing from the San Diego tournament, she said that she is now at 100 percent, noting “I’ve been playing tennis at a high level since I was 6 or 7 years old” and that the “body will feel the side effects”.

She hinted that along with feeling well, the end of her career may not be coming too soon. “My last main goal is the Olympics, and then we’ll see from there. It’s too soon to predict anything after that.

A common point of discussion with the players was the eventual retirement of the Williams sisters. Those who were asked were adamant that it was a thought far from their minds. “I’m not thinking of them retiring because I love playing against them”, said Victoria Azarenka. Players also insisted that the gap at the top of the game is closing. “The gap is not so big… [the] competition can make for a great tournament. The level is really, really high” said Francesca Schiavone. Azarenka noted that young players continue to improve the level of the game. “So many young players [are] taking the standard so high”.

Maria Sharapova emphasized her continuing work on her fitness and health. “A lot of rehab for my shoulder, I have bruised joints naturally.” She also noted that as a younger player she played a lot more matches than someone of a smiliar age today. “I played a lot more matches than someone right now [at 17]”.

Brodie McPhee is the author of the tennis web site Mind the Racket. He’s in Toronto this week covering the Rogers Cup WTA edition for Tennis Panorama News. Follow his updates on twitter at @GVTennisNews and his personal twitter @MindTheRacket.

 

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Maria Sharapova March 31 Interview at the Sony Ericsson Open

 

M. SHARAPOVA/A. Petkovic

3 6, 6 0, 6 2

An interview with:

MARIA SHARAPOVA

THE MODERATOR:  Questions, please.

Q.  In light of the week you’ve had and with the weather conditions today and she’s playing great, how satisfying is that win today?
MARIA SHARAPOVA:  Yeah, I’m really happy that I’m back in the finals here.  I missed this tournament so many years.  So to be back in the final and    I started off really well in this tournament.
Almost lucky to be here.  Had a tough one the other night and also a three setter today.  She’s been playing the best tennis of her career and beat some good players here, so I was really happy I was able to change things around after losing the first set.

Q.  She said that one of the things that makes you such a good champion is that you sense right away a weakness in the other player and basically you jump on that.  She said that she felt that you sensed she was hesitating, whatever.  Can you talk about that?
MARIA SHARAPOVA:  Well, to be honest, I felt like I was just making a lot errors in the first set and I wasn’t moving my feet at all.  And especially with the wind I wasn’t moving towards the ball and letting the ball come to me and not really being aggressive.  That’s what’s won me so many matches in my career is when I step in and I hit my strokes and they come deep.  I just wasn’t doing that.
So first and foremost I felt like I had to start doing that and making little steps and adjusting my game a little bit.  More than anything, I sensed that she was tired    probably a lot of the dancing that she’s been doing    and I took advantage of it.

Q.  She thought you would be tired in the third after the long match you had the previous night.  Didn’t seem to be that way.
MARIA SHARAPOVA:  Because I didn’t do the dance after.  I wasn’t tired.

Q.  It’s the steps, is it?
MARIA SHARAPOVA:  I don’t know what it is.  I just know that I won my match and I won it today again.

Q.  Clearly you feel physically good, strong.  You say you were hitting your groundstrokes pretty powerfully in the second and third set.
MARIA SHARAPOVA:  Yeah, I started to.  Yeah, I think that’s really important.  I didn’t feel like I had in the beginning.  I don’t think it was because of that.  I think it was just because I was not moving that well.  I knew that I had to make that adjustment, yeah.

Q.  Is that the best you’ve served in a while?  You really picked it up in the second and third set.
MARIA SHARAPOVA:  Yeah, I did.  But I felt like in the first set I wasn’t returning or serving well, and that took the pressure away on her serve.
And even when she had second serve opportunities, she just had a lot of confidence.  I didn’t take a lot of that out of the way.

Q.  You were very dominate in the second set.  Going into the third set, how did you feel?  Did you feel there’s no way you could lose or this match is still up for grabs?
MARIA SHARAPOVA:  I wish I could feel like that.  I would be overconfident if I felt like that.  But it’s tricky, because you have to figure that it’s one set all.  And although you just won the set 6 0, I still felt like we had a lot of deuce games, as much as we did in the first set, I just didn’t win them.
It was a matter of making sure that I was doing the same things that I did in order to change the match, to keep doing them and being consistent about that.

Q.  Seems like the Russian women were really dominating the game five years ago, and that’s changed lately.  You may meet Vera in the final.  Will that be exciting?
MARIA SHARAPOVA:  Yeah, absolutely.  Another girl is from Belarus as well.  So all from the same region, I guess.  But, yeah, we had a lot of great results from our country many years ago, like you said, so it obviously would be great to play Vera.  We haven’t faced each other for a while, so, yeah, it would be nice.

Q.  What would it mean to win this tournament?
MARIA SHARAPOVA:  It would mean a lot.  It’s the biggest tournament I think after the Grand Slams.  Like I said, I’m pretty fortunate to be in the finals after having a few tough ones like I had the previous rounds.
Yeah, I look forward to going out there and getting it done.

Q.  Are you back?  Do you feel like you’re back to the top, you can get right to the top again?
MARIA SHARAPOVA:  I feel like I’m finding my form.  Like I said, I was looking to play a lot of the matches before I came to Indian Wells.  I really felt like with many matches and staying healthy that I would feel better and my form would start coming back to me, and my tennis as well.
I feel that that’s playing out really well.

Q.  Talk about what happened with your shoulder and sort of the process of coming back from this and maybe why it took a little bit longer than you hoped and how you’ve had to adjust your form to help your shoulder more?
MARIA SHARAPOVA:  Um, I don’t know how much you know about it, but I had a couple minor tears in it, tendon tears, that weren’t initially seen in the first MRI I did, and I played with it for a little while.  Got a little bit worse after that.  We caught it a little late, and that’s why I think it took a little longer than it should have.
I tried to rehab I believe the first two months.  When that didn’t help I had surgery on it.  Probably took me six, seven months after the surgery to come back to the tour.

Q.  Have you had to change your serve?
MARIA SHARAPOVA:  I did in the beginning, yeah.

Q.  How about now?
MARIA SHARAPOVA:  Um, well, in the beginning I had a much shorter motion.  Just kind of took it straight up.  My joints are pretty loose in my shoulders and kind of throughout my whole body.  That’s one of the reasons why I think I got the injury in the first place.
So in order to start earlier I had to change it.  Now it’s not as long as it used to be, but it’s pretty much there.

Q.  Do you and Sasha ever exchange competitive strategies about each other’s sports?
MARIA SHARAPOVA:  Give me an example.

Q.  He’s had his ups and downs over the years.  Every athlete does.
MARIA SHARAPOVA:  Yeah.

Q.  Talk about certain situations…
MARIA SHARAPOVA:  It obviously helps that he’s an athlete and understands the perspective and the mindset going into matches and being an athlete.  It’s quite different to many other things in life and careers.
We have that between each other.  We’re obviously in different sports, but we    although we’re all in sports and we understand each other, it’s not something that we constantly talk about.

Q.  Is there any one piece of advice you gave him or he gave you that stayed with the other person?
MARIA SHARAPOVA:  I think that stays between us.

Q.  I didn’t mean to say what it was…
MARIA SHARAPOVA:  You just asked the question.  (Laughter.)

Q.  Have you exchanged things?
MARIA SHARAPOVA:  Well, of course.  Obviously he’s my fiancee.  We talk.  We talk about many things.  He understands what I go through obviously, like you said, from an athlete’s perspective.  It’s very different.  You have ups and downs and wins and then the losses, and he’s always there for me and understands what I go through.  So it’s very nice to have that.

Q.  Your return of serve today again was very phenomenal, and you also mentioned it earlier.  Has that always been such a strong part of your game?
MARIA SHARAPOVA:  I didn’t think so in the first, but I think that was one of the adjustments that I had to make for the second and third set, was to really    you know, by me saying being aggressive, it starts from the first ball you hit.  That starts with the return, because it puts something in their mind when they go up to the line.  They have to go for a little bit more maybe.
So I’ve been returning quite well throughout this tournament, and it’s something that’s going to be quite important in the final.

Q.  Talk about your match maybe against Azarenka.
MARIA SHARAPOVA:  Um, she plays really aggressive and swings really hard from both sides.  You know, a great returner.  It’ll be tough.  I lost to her the last time we played   in Stanford that was, I believe   so, yeah, I’ll look to change a few things around if I play her.

FastScripts by ASAP Sports

 

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2011 Bank of the West Classic Ticket Packages On Sale

STANFORD, Calif. (www.BankOfTheWestClassic.com) – Tickets packages for the 2011 Bank of the West Classic will go on sale Monday, February 7 beginning at 8 a.m. (PT).

Secure your tickets early and see 13-time Grand Slam Champion Serena Williams, three-time Grand Slam Champion Maria Sharapova and 2010 French Open finalist Samantha Stosur as they battle many more of the world’s best tennis players, right here in the Bay Area.

Ticket packages for the event, which will be held July 25-31 at Stanford University’s Taube Family Tennis Stadium, can be purchased by calling the box office at 866-WTA-TIXS (866-982-8497) or by logging on to www.BankoftheWestClassic.com.

Full-week packages start at just $575 and include tickets to all 13 sessions, a pass to the exclusive Plaza Club and an invitation to the Meet the Players Party. Those who purchase a pair of seats will also receive a weeklong VIP parking pass and a Bank of the West Classic Tournament program.

The Bank of the West Classic is also offering several weekend packages starting at $240.

The Bank of the West Classic, a WTA Tour premier event, is now in its 41st year and features a 28-player singles draw as well as a 16-team doubles draw. The event is owned and operated by IMG and serves as the opening women’s event of the Olympus US Open Series.

The list of past champions of the event reads like a Who’s Who of women’s tennis including Lindsay Davenport, Billie Jean King, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Andrea Jaeger, Monica Seles, Martina Hingis, Venus Williams and Kim Clijsters.

The Bank of the West Classic offers several different seat options with prices to fit everyone’s budget so reserve your seats today. Qualifying will be held July 23-24 and is free to the public.

Log on to www.BankoftheWestClassic.com for more information.
ABOUT THE BANK OF THE WEST CLASSIC: The Bank of the West Classic is the longest-running women-only professional tennis tournament in the world and is the first stop of the Olympus US Open Series. A WTA Tour Premier event, the Bank of the West Classic features a 28-player singles draw and a 16-team doubles draw with total prize money of $700,000. Held on Stanford University’s campus at the Taube Family Tennis Stadium since 1997, former champions include: Billie Jean King, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Andrea Jaeger, Monica Seles, Martina Hingis, Lindsay Davenport, Venus Williams and Kim Clijsters.  The Bank of the West Classic is owned and operated by IMG.

ABOUT BANK OF THE WEST: Based in San Francisco, $61 billion-asset Bank of the West (www.bankofthewest.com) offers a full range of business, corporate, personal, trust and international banking services. For the third year in a row, Bank of the West has been ranked “highest in customer satisfaction in retail banking” in California by J.D. Power and Associates. The Bank operates more than 700 branch locations and commercial banking offices in 19 Western and Midwestern states. Bank of the West’s holding company, BancWest Corporation, is a subsidiary of BNP Paribas, among the six strongest banks in the world, according to Standard & Poor’s.
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