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BNP PARIBAS OPENMarch 18, 2012Maria SharapovaINDIAN WELLS, CALIFORNIA V. AZARENKA/M. Sharapova THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. Want to talk about the match? She seems pretty consistent. It's kind of hard to execute against her. She doesn't seem to be missing as much as maybe a year or so ago. MARIA SHARAPOVA: Yeah, she's extremely solid, and, you know, she makes you work for every point. You know, ultimately I think, you know, maybe she forces you to want to do a little bit more than either you should or would want to. Yeah, she's really fit, as well. You know, playing with a lot of confidence, and you can definitely, you know, sense that when she's moving around the court and hitting the ball. Yeah, I still feel like I just made too many unforced errors at the wrong time and wasn't solid enough. Q. Was there any time during the match where you felt like, Okay, now I'm in here? You made a bit of a push there in the second set. She seemed to respond pretty well. MARIA SHARAPOVA: Yeah, I mean, I still don't think I was as aggressive as I should be, as I can be. I think that's the key really right now. But, yeah, it's okay. I mean, we're gonna play against each other a few more times, so I'll have time to change that. Q. When you are playing someone who is so solid and you talk about making too many errors, do you try to be more aggressive or try to shorten points or hang in longer rallies? Do you have to choose one or the other? MARIA SHARAPOVA: Well, it depends. It depends on what works for you. I mean, of course, I don't want to be going into 25‑ball rallies. That's usually not my game. If I feel like I'm being aggressive and I'm, you know, working towards moving forward and finishing the ball off, you know, close to the net with the same volley and approach shot, then I'm playing well. But I was so far behind. Of course, that's one of the reasons, because she was hitting very deep and solid and not giving me a lot of those opportunities to move forward. But just if I get a chance I think in the beginning of the point, first part of it, I should be a bit more aggressive in that respect. Q. Is there any weakness you can spot at all? MARIA SHARAPOVA: Yeah, I mean, she's going through a period in her career where she's extremely confident, extremely solid. You know, nothing is really going wrong for her. So I think, you know, everything is a positive‑positive. It's a really great feeling. We still have a lot of tennis to play this season, and, you know, she's one of the many opponents that you face in tournaments. When you you're against her you're playing against a good player. You have to figure out how to beat them. It hasn't happened for me the last couple of times against her. Like I said, we're still young. We're gonna face each other many more times. Q. Let's face it, you're known for very good reason for your pride. Is it fair to say in terms of Victoria now, four straight tournaments, 23 straight matches, some really big wins, does the WTA now finally have a dominant player, or is it too early to say that? MARIA SHARAPOVA: Well, I mean, judging by the beginning of the season, there is no doubt she's the most dominant as far as this year goes. Just the level of tennis and how she's been able to, you know, keep it, as well. It's also‑‑ you know, another thing is to maintain that level. But, yeah, I mean, we've got many more tournaments to go. I think ultimately that is set at the end of the year and you kind of see who was where and who did how. Q. You talked about her confidence and movement and so forth. What do you think the reason is she's sort of stepped up early in the year now in her play? MARIA SHARAPOVA: Well, I think she's always‑‑ she was one of the players that has always had extreme potential to win a Grand Slam and be No. 1 in the world. I think actually many people expected that to happen sooner for her and were expecting her to, you know, to get to a final of a Grand Slam earlier than she did. But I think everybody has their time of when they achieve that. For her, it was this year. You know, to see that level of tennis from her has been great consistently, as well, because, I mean, in the past she would have done that a few rounds and then wasn't as consistent. I think that's the biggest difference is that consistency. Q. You had some downs during the tournament, big comebacks, didn't get the result you wanted today, but how do you feel about your game going into Miami? MARIA SHARAPOVA: Yeah, I feel good. I mean, it's good to be back in the final. You know, got one step farther than last year. Yeah, you know, I love this stretch of these two tournaments. They're very great, nice tournaments. They're, you know, close to home for me, both in California and Miami, so I love playing them. Yeah, looking forward to next week. Q. When you were at the top and pretty much beating everyone ‑ let's just say when you were at the top ‑ did you feel like you had to beat every single other player to feel like you were dominant? For example, Azarenka hasn't played, Serena this year, she hasn't played Kvitova, she hasn't played Wozniacki. Or do you just measure yourself, This is what's in front of me? MARIA SHARAPOVA: Yeah, exactly. I think it's more of whoever is in front of you and the challenge that you face and having to overcome that. You can't get too ahead of yourself in thinking, Well, I've got this and that to beat. You know, obviously records and match wins are great, but ultimately it's about your next opponent. That's really it. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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