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AUSTRALIAN OPENJanuary 19, 2005Maria SharapovaMELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA THE MODERATOR: Questions for Maria, please. Q. Did she surprise you a bit, the way she held in and played? MARIA SHARAPOVA: Definitely. She played amazing in the first set, was moving side to side really well. I was trying to -- you know, when an opponent plays with two hands on both sides, you try to move her a bit and try to get her on the run, but she was playing shots on the run that were just too good. It seemed like everything was going in. From my side, I was making too many errors. But, you know, errors or winners, I just try to focus and mentally just try to get myself in the match and pull it through. Q. You said she was impressed with your fighting spirit. But how do you feel about her fighting spirit in general out there? MARIA SHARAPOVA: Well, it was an amazing match. I think both of us gave it all we've got. In the third set, we just fought for every single ball. You know, in the end, it was just a matter of a few points. But she definitely gave it all, all she had, out there. Q. After a match like that, are you more mentally or physically tired? MARIA SHARAPOVA: I think physically, definitely, you know, especially on this court in the heat and the type of match that we played. Q. Did you have any awareness of who she was? MARIA SHARAPOVA: Yeah, I've played her before. Q. You did? MARIA SHARAPOVA: Uh-hmm. Q. Do you have any appreciation of what it's like to be a mom as well as a professional tennis player? MARIA SHARAPOVA: Yeah, it takes a lot of guts to get back out there. A lot of credit to her for sure. You know, to have a child and then to be able to come back and be on the tour and play so well is amazing. Q. Do you practice your lob much? MARIA SHARAPOVA: Once in a while. Q. You used it at Wimbledon to good effect when you had to and pulled it out today? MARIA SHARAPOVA: Tell you the truth, my lobs are absolutely terrible. But at the right time, I seem to pull it through. Q. If you don't practice them and you're not good at it, how do you think you manage to pull them out at the right time? MARIA SHARAPOVA: I don't think my lobs were that great today. I think they were better at Wimbledon at the right points. I think today she made -- it was just one lob that I, you know, I just was out of the court and I just got it back in the court basically. You know, turned out to be a good shot. Q. Is that because in the Juniors most people stay back and there's nobody to lob over because you're at the back of the court? MARIA SHARAPOVA: I don't think so. Q. There's been a lot of talk about the positive test, obviously, in the last few days. Have you spoken to Dementieva or Kuznetsova about that? MARIA SHARAPOVA: No, actually, I haven't seen too much of them today. I saw Svetlana today, but we were talking and joking about things, yeah. Q. What was your response when you saw the news about that? MARIA SHARAPOVA: To tell you the truth, there's so many things I have to worry about that, you know, just having these things come in our game is just -- it's something that, you know, I hear, I accept and, you know, I forget and just go on with the things I need to do. It's hard trying to worry about other people's business when I have so many things that, you know, I have to concentrate on and think about. But it's obviously terrible, you know. You don't want to see this in our game. You don't want to have all this nonsense controversy. But this is something that we as a tour are going to get through and, you know, all of us understand. You know, it will be all okay. Q. There seems to be a little tension between Kuznetsova and Dementieva about that. Does that surprise you, because the Russian girls seem to be so close. MARIA SHARAPOVA: I haven't heard about any tension. Q. Is it easier to play this one than the US Open because this is the second time you've played a Grand Slam after being a Wimbledon champion? At the US Open, everybody was aware of you but now things have calmed down a bit and it's easier to deal with. MARIA SHARAPOVA: Yeah, I think -- well, especially last year the US Open was a lot tougher for me. But with the conditions, I think the Australian is a lot tougher as well - mentally and physically it just drains you. But, you know, in New York, you have all the buzz and excitement and the traffic. You know, tennis is like the last thing sometimes on your mind when you're in New York, you know. You have to get yourself focused. But I've always said that I thought the Australian was always the hardest Grand Slam for me. Q. The heat and those sort of things, do you feel if you play one of the other top players, you have an advantage or they have an advantage, or is there something you don't like about the heat? MARIA SHARAPOVA: It's something that I've been working on, you know. I haven't had the experience of playing so many matches in the dead heat, especially a Grand Slam. So I've -- you know, I've been learning, I've been working really hard. In the off-season, that was one thing that I wanted to work on. I was thinking in the back of my mind that when it's going to be hot in Australia, that I'm going to be fresh as a daisy. Q. Serena said she thinks it's a piece of cake compared to the summer in Florida with the heat and humidity. She said it's worse than the heat here. Do you agree? MARIA SHARAPOVA: Well, I've spent a lot of time in Los Angeles as well, so I'm not in Florida as much as in the summer especially, so... End of FastScripts…. |
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