|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
DONGFENG MOTOR WUHAN OPENSeptember 21, 2014Maria SharapovaWUHAN, CHINA THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. Welcome to Wuhan. Wuhan's fans are really sad today. Maybe you can bring some Sugarpova to them to make them happy. MARIA SHARAPOVA: Can you say that again? Q. Sugarpova. MARIA SHARAPOVA: Start the question again. Q. Wuhan's fans here are very sad this day because Li Na say bye‑bye, and we hope you can bring some Sugarpova here to make them happy. Half hour later, Li Na's farewell press conference will holding in Beijing. What do you think about that? MARIA SHARAPOVA: Yes, it's obviously a very big loss for tennis in general all around the world, and specifically here in China where Li Na has been so influential for so many years. I think she was one of the biggest reasons why there is such an international tournament in Wuhan. She brought all of us here, so I think it's a little extra sad that she won't be participating this year. But I think she can look back at her career with a big smile on her face and everything that she's achieved and gone through so many injuries in her career, and I think that shows a lot of how much dedication she had for what she did and the passion for the sport. You know, when you get down to get back up it's very meaningful. So I think everyone should be very proud of her achievements and put up a good event for her. Q. (Through translation.) I have two questions. The first question is we know that you were a very good tennis player since your childhood. In your school days we wonder, apart from tennis, how was your academic performance? Which is your favorite subject? The second question... MARIA SHARAPOVA: Can I answer the first one? I'm going to forget the first one if you ask me two. I have always been home schooled most of the years that I studied. I was never in a proper education system where I was around 30 people. I went to a private school for three or four years while I was practicing in Florida, but I would say I don't know what my favorite subject was, but I liked studying art very much, and architecture was a subject that I wanted to get into but just never had the time unfortunately. Q. (Through translation.) The second question, many students in China are very interested in playing tennis. In many schools, for example, a primary school in Wuhan even offer free tennis courses to the students there, so do you have any suggestions for the students who want to become a superstar in tennis? MARIA SHARAPOVA: Well, I think the first step has already been achieved, bringing such big international events to the country of China I think with a big help from Li Na, and a lot of Chinese players have represented the sport. Because of that you have seen so much development in the sport from tennis facilities to coaches to coming here. I don't think a lot of players knew so much about Wuhan, but to come here and see a structure that's been simply built for an event like this, a global event with so many players participating, it's very impressive, I must say. I think that's the first step to developing big names in the future. Q. (Through translation.) I have two questions. First, you have been in Wuhan for several days. Have you visited any interesting places? Since it's the first time for Wuhan to host such an international WTA tournament, how do you feel about the venue here? And the second question is about the snacks in Wuhan. MARIA SHARAPOVA: The what? Snacks. Q. (Through translation.) The food. Wuhan is famous for many delicious foods. So how about your ‑‑which one do you prefer? The Western foods or Chinese foods? And what snacks... MARIA SHARAPOVA: I think that's like ten questions. Q. (Through translation.) Which ones have impressed you the most? MARIA SHARAPOVA: What was the first one? Oh, about the... What was the first question? I'm sorry. Q. (Through translation.) Have you ever visited any interesting places in Wuhan? What do you think about the venue? MARIA SHARAPOVA: Well, it's quite a long trip coming from the United States here, so I think always the first few days it's always just a matter of adjusting to the time and adjusting to the courts and everything around you. You know, sometimes we go to some of the most touristy places in cities around the world, and everyone asks what you say we do and there is not much that we actually went to see. It's pretty much the case here. It's just been trying to practice and trying to sleep and getting used to the time change here and getting ready to play. As far as the foods, I try to keep it pretty minimal here because it's quite different to what we're used to. It's certainly different to Russian food or Western food. So I try to keep it simple and not experiment too much here. Q. Since you arrived Wuhan you practiced every day. So do you think it's right now is your best moment, you know, right now, best moment, best form? MARIA SHARAPOVA: Well, I think every player that comes to a tournament wants to get as much practice as they can, you know, on the courts and trying to play on all the different courts. That's really the goal. We're not really here on vacation to rest. So that's pretty much how it's been. I think of course you want to go on the court and find your form as the tournament goes on. It's been a few weeks since I have competed since the US Open. So this will be a great starting point for me here. Q. (Through translation.) Could you please share with us some interesting stories between you and Li Na or what happened between you two that impressed you most? MARIA SHARAPOVA: Share moments between Li Na and I? Interesting moments. Well, a lot of moments we have shared have been on the court competing against each other. We faced against each other many, many times. I considered her one of my toughest opponents. You know, her game was very difficult to play against because of the way that she made the game so physical. You know, she was very strong, very powerful off her backhand side, you know, never really let up in matches, was always ‑‑took the ball early, anticipated the ball very well. You know, she always imposed herself on the court and has a very impressive style of game that she had and caused me a lot of troubles. I had a lot of disappointing losses against her but also tough matches that I came through. The recent one was just a couple of months ago on clay. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|