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AUSTRALIAN OPENJanuary 16, 2007Maria SharapovaMELBOURNE, VICTORIA THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. How much physically did that game take out of you, that match? You've been a while coming to the press conference. Did you take a while to recover? MARIA SHARAPOVA: Yeah, I had to see the doctor because I did get a medical time out, so I did have to go see the doctor. He had to examine me and had to make sure I drank a lot and just kind of rested and sort of recovered a little bit. Q. How tough was it? MARIA SHARAPOVA: It was really tough. You know, it was hard to think about what you were going to do on court because you were just mentally trying to find a way to kind of make the points shorter and basically trying to find a way to win. But sometimes when it's that hot outside, your mind doesn't work properly. Q. Do you feel that once they've reached a level where they've decided to close the roof then they should do it regardless of a match? MARIA SHARAPOVA: Definitely, yeah. We probably played an hour and a half, two hours in the conditions where the roof should have been closed, yeah. Q. Did you feel that was somewhat unfair then? MARIA SHARAPOVA: No. It's the same as it is for my opponent. I'm not going to complain about it. Q. Do you think it's putting players' health at risk, possibly playing in heat like this? MARIA SHARAPOVA: I mean, yeah, it's inhumanly possible to play three hours in that kind of heat. I don't think our bodies were made to do that. But like I said, I mean, it was hot for me and it was hot for my opponent, as well. It was just a matter of who could, I don't know, win, I guess. Q. It's not hard for your -- it's the same for your opponent, but it's not the same for the rest of the field because they aren't asked to go out and play, they're stopped from going out. Is that the unfairness of the rule? MARIA SHARAPOVA: I don't know, the match was at 11:00 and I won the first set and I could have easily won it in two and there would have been a lot less people in this press conference and it would have been a one-hour-and-fifteen-minute match, and there would be no talk about it. I mean, I did lose the second set. I was up 5-0. All those are facts. But that's the way it goes. You know, those are the things that happen. You know, I mean, I could feel a lot worse with a loss right now. Q. Do you think it's a good rule that you've played with the roof open and other people were told not to go out and play? Do you think that's a good rule? MARIA SHARAPOVA: Well, the rule is where it is. I mean, the rule is if you start at a condition where the roof doesn't have to be closed, you finish the match. I mean, a rule is a rule. Do I like it? Not necessarily, no. Q. Conditions aside, why was the match so tough? MARIA SHARAPOVA: The conditions (laughing). I don't think you can really put that aside. In the middle of the second -- at points in the match you're not really worrying about how you're playing or what you're doing, you're just trying to find a way to basically win a point in as short a time as possible because it's physically really draining. Q. Did you need an IV drip or any other special treatment after? MARIA SHARAPOVA: No, I was just -- no, I just saw the doctor and a lot of hydration and stuff. Q. When a strong favorite, as you were today, is twice two points far from defeat, what goes through your mind? Are you worried about -- MARIA SHARAPOVA: This sucks (laughter). That it really sucks. I mean, what else can you think? Not only have you been in like 47-degree heat for three hours, but you're also like two points away from losing the match. So like I said, I could be feeling a lot worse if I had lost the match. Q. People asked if you were feeling quite unwell at times today. Have you ever felt that bad? Were your legs like jelly? What was going on with you physically? MARIA SHARAPOVA: Actually in the middle of the second set, the reason I called the trainer was because in the middle of the second set I started getting some pinches in my abdominal muscle. It didn't happen while I was hitting a stroke and it didn't feel like a cramp, so I kind of played with it. As the third set went on it was becoming more frequent so I was taking more deep breaths. I've definitely played in these sort of conditions, but I don't think for such a long period of time. Q. You made some comments about supporting the tournament this time of year. Considering what you went through today, would you rethink those comments? MARIA SHARAPOVA: Let's not say I said I support it. I said it's hard to put one of the biggest tournaments of the year and say, Yeah, we're going to move it towards the middle of the year. Do you think I support that I want to go out and play three hours in this kind of heat? No. I mean that would just be stupid. But you've got to -- it's common sense. It's really hard to just take a big tournament and just move it where you've got -- you've got a tournament every single week. Why don't you just move it? I mean, that's kind of -- Q. But considering the conditions down here at this time of year? MARIA SHARAPOVA: Yeah. I mean, I think all players would prefer to play in better conditions. But like I said, I mean, it takes time to change this. It doesn't -- I don't know how long people have been thinking of changing this event to move to a different time of the year. Q. Were you kicking yourself after she got back to 5-All in the third, or were you just so delirious -- MARIA SHARAPOVA: I was so delusional I couldn't think. At that point you're just -- after the ten-minute break I felt a lot better. I felt like I could think. But actually, when it was like 3 or 4, I started feeling delusional again. It's hard to explain because as much as you want to think about what you want to do to win a point, you just can't. Q. So when she was serving for it and she was two points from the match, were you just saying, All right, just fight or just end it or I don't really care either way? MARIA SHARAPOVA: It doesn't matter. I wasn't saying let's just end it and lose. I mean, I don't know what I was thinking, I really don't know. I mean, I was definitely trying to find a way to win, yeah. I mean, I tried to find a way to win the whole match. Q. Do you remember how you won it in the end, any particular shots, or is it all just a bit of a blur? MARIA SHARAPOVA: I mean, after splitting sets I felt like I was attacking more, especially her serving, which is one of her weaknesses. But I didn't feel like I was putting any pressure on her serve. And yeah, when she was up a break in the third, I definitely felt like there were one or two balls where I got a better hit at it and I was able to move in and put some pressure on her. I don't know, I guess it's a couple things here and there. But like I said, it's just hard to really think of what I should have done right. Q. The stomach thing, what did it finally turn out to be? And secondly, had you tried that dress out much in hot, sunny weather where you looked like you might have had a little bit of a burn? MARIA SHARAPOVA: I put sunscreen on, I don't know. I'll see tomorrow. They said it was like a mini-cramp or something, I guess, because it was nothing -- because it didn't happen when I was hitting a ball. It was just kind of like a sudden little pinch and then I started feeling it more frequently. So yeah, they said -- it's been okay after I finished the match. It settled down. Q. What was the worst thought you had during the match? MARIA SHARAPOVA: Worst thought? I mean, it's hard to think of -- I don't know. You don't think much, that's the thing. Technically you're not really thinking, that's the problem. In a way you should be thinking because you should -- I mean, you should be just going out and you should be playing your tennis, but you also should have some conscious effort of what you're doing out there, and that's kind of -- that's just hard to do in these conditions. Q. Are you confident you're going to physically recover? MARIA SHARAPOVA: Oh, yeah, yeah. I have a day. I'll be ready. Q. Did it ever cross your mind to stop? MARIA SHARAPOVA: No. I mean, unless I was just -- no, definitely not. Q. Why is that? MARIA SHARAPOVA: Why? Because I'm not a quitter. I'm not just going to stop because of the heat. End of FastScripts |
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