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WESTERN & SOUTHERN FINANCIAL GROUP WOMEN'S OPEN

August 15, 2010

Maria Sharapova

CINCINNATI, OHIO

K. CLIJSTERS/M. Sharapova
2-6, 7-6, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. How much do you think fatigue might have been a factor today? You played 12 sets of tennis over six consecutive days without a day off. Do you think that may have influenced it a little bit?
MARIA SHARAPOVA: Maybe towards the later stages in the match. But, you know, it's hard to say. If.
I would have won a couple of those points in the second, then we wouldn't really be talking about fatigue.

Q. When you asked for the challenge and it wasn't granted seemed to lose your way a little bit. I was sitting on that line and I saw that it was a double fault. Unfortunately, the chair didn't give the opportunity to have that challenge. Can you take us through that time frame.
MARIA SHARAPOVA: Um, I mean, you know, there are different moments in the match which we can talk about but, you know, it's tough to pinpoint just one of those.
Obviously we don't know. Maybe what you saw was wrong, too. I mean, we don't know. Doesn't matter now.

Q. Is your foot okay? I saw that you had a medical tight for your foot or ankle.
MARIA SHARAPOVA: Yeah, I haven't really had any time to talk with the trainer or the doctor and see how it is. It just kind of flared up out of nowhere, so we'll see how it is.

Q. What do you think are the things that you did well today?
MARIA SHARAPOVA: Um, I think, you know, I served in the first couple sets pretty good. You know, I was keeping her guessing a lot and keeping her off balance in the rallies.
Um, yeah, I mean, I felt like I had control of the match.

Q. Do you feel that your game was effective when you came back after the rain delay? Conditions were a lot different. Seemed like you were just steam rolling right through the match, and then it got a little bit cooler and breezier. Do you think that affected your game at all?
MARIA SHARAPOVA: I think it certainly gave her time to relax, and -- more than the conditions themselves, I think it was about just maybe her going in and having a chance to think about what she needs to do differently.
She came out and started playing really good tennis, you know. Yeah.

Q. Were you dwelling on the three match points you had at all during the rain delay? That had to be tough having the break come when it did.
MARIA SHARAPOVA: Yeah, but there's not much to it. She had two good first serves and we had another long rally and I went for a winner. So those are obviously -- we could talk about those as well.
They're there are different points in the match that maybe I should have done something differently.

Q. What did Michael tell you at the start of third set?
MARIA SHARAPOVA: Just forget about what happened and, you know, we still have -- the match is not over. Just keep your head up. Keep going for it.

Q. When you handed your racquet to your coach, was it a stringing issue or a grip issue?
MARIA SHARAPOVA: Grip.

Q. Did your ankle start bothering you in the third game of the third set? How long had it been bothering you?
MARIA SHARAPOVA: It's not the ankle. It's more the heel area. No, it was actually -- I think it was the second or third game when we came back.

Q. How do you feel about your game as far as preparation for the US Open?
MARIA SHARAPOVA: Good. I've had a solid week. Obviously I would have loved to win this tournament, but didn't happen today. I just look forward to the next one.

Q. Do you think this puts you in doubt for Canada?
MARIA SHARAPOVA: Like I said, I still haven't really gotten a chance to evaluate anything. I will, and I'll probably see how it feels tomorrow.

Q. What do you think you might want to try to do differently in your next match with Kim that you maybe didn't do today?
MARIA SHARAPOVA: Um, I mean, it's tough to say. Because I was up a set and a break before we went off court, so I was doing many things right.
And then a change of things, and all of a sudden she looks like the one that was up a set and a break. That's the way tennis is. I think I have to stick to my game plan and just execute it.

Q. What did you do? You had like an hour and 15 minutes. What did you do during that time? Are you just sitting in the locker room?
MARIA SHARAPOVA: Yeah, pretty much. Just eat something and listen to music. Nothing special.

Q. How do you feel about your service motion? I've seen you change it throughout the year from full motion to and abbreviated motion, and now you're back to a full motion. Do you feel that you'll stick with it, or how do you feel about your service motion?
MARIA SHARAPOVA: Yeah, my motion is feeling much more comfortable. Overall, my serve is feeling a lot better than it did last year at this time of year.
Last year I was just trying to adjust to my shoulder. Now I'm just -- I'm not worried about that anymore. I'm just playing tennis.

Q. Looked like you were missing your first serve a little bit more in the tiebreak. Is that a fair assessment? If so, what was giving you the problem there?
MARIA SHARAPOVA: Yeah, I was having trouble landing on this foot.

Q. Which foot was it?
MARIA SHARAPOVA: The left one. You know, yeah, my service percentage absolutely went down in the breaker and the third set.

Q. What were the conditions like on court as the storm front moved in? The wind was whipping around and it was getting dark. It looked like it was hard to play?
MARIA SHARAPOVA: Yeah, you're playing a day match, and within 30 seconds you're almost playing a night match. And then you get off the court and you're playing a day match again.
So those are just the circumstances that we have to be used to. It's an outdoor event, and anything's possible.

Q. You were getting a lot of velocity on both first and second serves. You hit a second serve well over 100 miles an hour. Is that something you were making a conscious effort to go for more power on your serve?
MARIA SHARAPOVA: Um, I mean, you know, against an opponent like Kim you have to serve well and hit your spots well. It's not always just about power. But, you know, I want to make sure that I definitely had something on the ball, or else she's a good returner.

Q. You converted 4 of your 12 breakpoints today. What was giving you the problem when you got a breakpoint on her serve? Did she do anything different?
MARIA SHARAPOVA: Um, yeah, maybe I could have taken my chances a little bit more, but I didn't. (Laughter.)

End of FastScripts

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