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ROGERS CUP

August 17, 2009

Maria Sharapova

TORONTO, ONTARIO

M. SHARAPOVA/N. Petrova
6-3, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. You said on Friday I think you anticipated a good welcome from a lot of the Russian-speaking people. You seem to have gotten that tonight. Can you comment on that?
MARIA SHARAPOVA: Yeah, I did. I saw a few Russian flags waving around, especially when I was finished with the match. I try to stay focused on my job when I'm playing the match, but I definitely heard them a little bit and I saw the Russian flags, so I knew they were there supporting me. That was great.

Q. And your opponent, too?
MARIA SHARAPOVA: Yeah, absolutely. When you're out there, you forget who you're playing, your compatriot or if you're playing somebody from another country. Yeah, it's all about the job ahead and your own side of the court and trying to win the match.

Q. Do you feel like you're getting a little bit closer now with each tournament? You've had some good results. Do you feel like maybe getting back in the winner's circle? It's getting closer maybe here?
MARIA SHARAPOVA: Yeah. It's tough to think about the winner's circle, because you have to -- I mean, I hate to say it again because I say it all the time: It's really important to take it one match at a time. And after coming back when you've kind of trying to get used to the situation again and the match play and the different opponents, even though I played her a few times, in every single match you're in a different situation and you learn from that, and you just hope you move forward and get better with every match.
That's kind of my goal right now. Obviously when I come into a tournament, I want to win the tournament. But the mindset is to just to focus on every single match and take it one match at a time no matter who you play and try to get better really with your game.

Q. It seemed like you had a fairly good -- the problem, maybe one problem area maybe a little bit wobble at the end there, couldn't quite finish her off when you wanted to?
MARIA SHARAPOVA: Yeah, I had a few bad calls; not one, not two, but three. So this certainly didn't help.
But it was all right. You know, sometimes it gets really close in the end, and I was just -- I was the tougher one. She had an opportunity to make the match 5-All in the second, and it was good that I finished it in two.

Q. I believe it's the third time this year you've defeated her?
MARIA SHARAPOVA: Uh-huh.

Q. Is there a particular aspect of your game or maybe her game that you can pinpoint maybe giving you a little bit of an advantage or attributing to your success recently?
MARIA SHARAPOVA: Um, I think that I've -- I think we know each other's games really well, and I have a pretty solid game plan going against her. The main thing is execution.
If I feel like I'm executing and doing what I have planned in my mind, then I'm going to win the match.
I just -- you know, I hang tough no matter what the score is, no matter what the situation is. I try to -- I try to hang in there, not just with her but every opponent, and give myself an opportunity to, you know, to keep playing but meanwhile get the job done when I have to.

Q. Could you see she was getting a bit frustrated, almost through the whole match? Do you kind of use that to your advantage?
MARIA SHARAPOVA: Um, you sometimes sense it from opponents, but I think it's a matter of what's inside of you rather than what's on the other side of the net.
Obviously it definitely gives you, you know, it gives you a little bit of a jump in your step when you notice your opponent is a little bit down on themselves, but I usually don't focus on the other side.

Q. Can you talk a little bit about the new service motion and how it's feeling on your shoulder and mentally what goes through your mind? Are you thinking about some of the changes that you've made this year?
MARIA SHARAPOVA: Well, it is something that I've obviously changed because of my shoulder. When you're 22 years old and you've already played on the tour for so long, and then all of a sudden at a young age you have to have surgery, obviously something that you've done repetitively has caused the injury.
So you have to make little adjustments, and I definitely had to make a few adjustments. When you don't, you know, when you don't do something for a really long time, I was out of the game, I didn't really have time to practice it in matches. That's kind of been, you know, the main thing right now is being in a tournament, being in a match, and you know, after the tournament, you know, sitting down and saying, How are you feeling? How does it feel? What do you feel like you have to improve? What can you tweak?
It's definitely a work in progress, but I definitely -- you know, it's something that I think will definitely get better in my career and stronger.

End of FastScripts

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