AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 17, 2005

Maria Sharapova

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Maria, please.

MARIA SHARAPOVA: Yeah. You know, she's a very dangerous opponent, especially in a first-round match. So I knew what to expect. I played her once before last year. Very aggressive player. Attacked her serve. You know, I just played a good, solid first-round match. You can't expect the best from yourself. But meanwhile, you know, it's good to get through.

MARIA SHARAPOVA: Gosh, so much has happened in that time. I don't know. I was more focused about how I was playing rather than focusing on her.

MARIA SHARAPOVA: I mean, I think I'm such a -- I'm a much better player than I was at Indian Wells last year definitely.

MARIA SHARAPOVA: I know that it's a very important tournament. There are four a year. The Australian is obviously right at the beginning of the year. So, you know, all of them are a bit different. I think here you don't have as much matches going in as, you know, as you would like going into a Grand Slam. But, you know, I always take it as a really tough tournament, something that I really, really want to win.

MARIA SHARAPOVA: Oh, definitely. I've got a lot more fans, a lot more people shouting my name, yeah.

MARIA SHARAPOVA: Yeah, it was obviously tough because, you know, everything happened so fast. And like I've said before many times, I cannot win everything. So obviously I knew I won a Grand Slam. I was very confident going into the tournament. But I knew that you never know what can happen, and I'm still developing my game. It's not that I won a Grand Slam and that all of a sudden I'm going to win everything. And, you know, I understand that. And that's why, you know, my game is still a work in progress.

MARIA SHARAPOVA: Uhm, I do in a sense because the last one, which was in Hong Kong, was a very competitive one. Unfortunately, I got a virus so I couldn't play -- I couldn't finish the whole thing. But I do take exhibitions very seriously, especially when they're before a Grand Slam.