|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
LONDON 2012 OLYMPIC GAMESAugust 4, 2012Maria SharapovaLONDON, ENGLAND S. WILLIAMS/M. Sharapova THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. Are you planning to play the finals in Istanbul in October? MARIA SHARAPOVA: Yes, if I make it, I'll be there. You have to qualify first. Q. If you qualify, you will be there? MARIA SHARAPOVA: Yeah. Q. Are there any plans for you to get married in Istanbul with your partner? MARIA SHARAPOVA: No. Those are false rumors. Always have been. Q. So you're not planning to get married in Istanbul? MARIA SHARAPOVA: Definitely not. Q. Obviously disappointment to some degree not getting the gold. But what does the silver mean to you? MARIA SHARAPOVA: Well, it means a lot. This is my first Olympic experience. I mean, this is probably one of the toughest events, playing six matches in the span of eight days against tough competition. It's such a unique experience for all of us. For me to be a first Olympian and to leave with a silver is an amazing accomplishment. Obviously it's always disappointing to lose in the finals, but it's great to get a medal, that's for sure. Q. She has got a good record against you. Were you surprised how well she played? MARIA SHARAPOVA: Look, she's playing incredibly confident tennis. After winning Wimbledon, you've seen her level progress so much here over this tournament. With every match she's played, she's playing better, hitting harder, so much power on the ball. Even against the wind today, her shots were very powerful. Yeah, I mean, she's done an incredible job of keeping that up. Q. Are you going to go to Rio in 2016? MARIA SHARAPOVA: I don't know where I'm going tomorrow, so... (Smiling). If anyone can tell me what I'm doing in four years, good luck. I would love to. I had a great experience here. It all seemed so quick. You know, just seemed like I arrived in London. Here we are, I'll be leaving tomorrow. It's been an incredible experience. I mean, I love Brazil. I would love to be a part of it there. But who knows what will be in four years. Q. Was there any adjustment at all that you could have made against Serena today? MARIA SHARAPOVA: I mean, obviously there are always things that you feel like you can do better. I mean, if I sat here and said there's nothing that I could do better, you know, that wouldn't be so motivating to go back on the court and keep working. So absolutely there are things here and there that I for sure could have done better. Q. I don't want to remind you of bed memories. MARIA SHARAPOVA: So why are you (smiling)? Q. You lost very badly to Davenport once 6‑Love, 6‑Love. What happened that day? What is the difference today? You were injured then. What happened today? How do you explain it? MARIA SHARAPOVA: Yeah, I think my opponent just played extremely well. Obviously there's things that I could have done different, but she was just too quick and too powerful today. Q. Do you think the wind was a factor because of your height on your serve? MARIA SHARAPOVA: Yeah, I mean, wind is obviously there. But it's windy not just for me but for her, as well. Q. What were you and Serena exchanging words about on the podium with the presentation? What were you saying to each other? MARIA SHARAPOVA: Did you see that the U.S. flag dropped? Q. Yes. MARIA SHARAPOVA: I was wondering if maybe you saw it. Somebody said some people only saw a reaction, didn't know. Q. We saw the reaction, but not the actual fall. MARIA SHARAPOVA: Yeah, we were discussing that. Little issue. Minor details. Q. You've obviously seen all the great players. Was Serena marginally better, dramatically better than you've seen her before? MARIA SHARAPOVA: Yeah, I mean, she was not making many mistakes, not giving me many opportunities. She served extremely well. You know, found the spots all around, and pretty fast, as well. You know, she returned well. She stays really low, hits the ball really hard. She's an extremely powerful player. So that makes it, you know, a little more difficult. Q. When you're in that situation where you're really dominating an opponent, is there something to be said about the focus that that requires as well? Do you have to focus just as hard on every point as you would in a tight match? MARIA SHARAPOVA: Yeah, of course. I mean, it's not just within the match, it's also keeping that level throughout a tournament and then going into another and keeping that same level. I think that was something that was so impressive about what Novak did last year. I mean, it's one thing to play great tennis at an event, play seven matches. But to mentally and physically get up in the morning and repeat that and do that over again, you know, it's one of the things that I think every athlete wants to have a feeling of confidence, but it's to carry that feeling and to have that desire and motivation. Every single day you're put in certain situations, you can be down, you can be up, things can turn, it's the game of tennis. That was something that was so impressive we saw with Novak. I think in terms of what Serena has done, she's taken the confidence. She had a few tight matches at Wimbledon. You know, she pulled through and I think she gained that confidence and came here and was on fire. Q. Do you think she was really trying to give you 6‑Love, 6‑Love? What was your impression, what were you thinking when you made that game? You pumped up a little bit, showing the fist. Were you hoping to have a major change? MARIA SHARAPOVA: I mean, I had a couple of breakpoints at 3‑1. If I had gotten one of them, who knows. Back on serve. But, I mean, she hit two big first serves. I made the return, she hit a winner on both of my returns. There's not much I could do with those breakpoints. Q. The other part of the question? MARIA SHARAPOVA: I think you can ask her probably. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|