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** Masha News and Articles! ** Vol. 3

391K views 6K replies 244 participants last post by  tejmeglekvár 
#1 ·
Hi everyone :wavey:

Thought maybe we could use a thread here to post all the news, interviews, and articles we find on Masha. :)

I just got my new Tennis Week magazine and Maria is on the cover again (she was also on the March cover). :eek:

If they haven't been posted already, I'll scan in the pics and article and post them here later.
 
#116 ·
She'd said she doesn't want to get a twitter not too long ago so good chance this will be commercialised and impersonal.
I'd love to but I don't expect her to have an account like Serena's or Vika's for example. I hope at least she makes her posts herself and not her agent or something.
 
#118 ·
She'd said she doesn't want to get a twitter not too long ago so good chance this will be commercialised and impersonal.
I'd love to but I don't expect her to have an account like Serena's or Vika's for example. I hope at least she makes her posts herself and not her agent or something.
What...rantings of a spoilt egotist/crybaby ;)

Seriously though it would be great for her and the fans if she joined. I dont think it would be that impersonal...look at her FB. Thats not that commercial.
 
#121 ·
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/sport...harapovas-prayer/story-fnddklvw-1226545906088

MARIA Sharapova never imagined this life.
Who could possibly dream that they would be a Wimbledon champion at 17, accumulate career earnings of $23 million and a bank balance at least quadruple that figure, as well as being the most marketable female athlete and richest sportswoman of all time.

But here she is, still only 25, entering her 12th year on the WTA and remarkably a somewhat reluctant tennis player, stunned she is among the world's best.

"I'm horrible at other sports," she said while relaxing on a lounge beneath Pat Rafter Arena.

"I don't even attempt to play other sports. I don't even know how I became good at this sport because I didn't have any athletic background from my family.


"To be honest, if you came to my house you wouldn't even know that I was a tennis player."

At 188cm tall and legs as long as you could possibly imagine, there is no doubt Sharapova is genetically blessed for tennis and has loads of natural talent.

But talent only gets you so far. It doesn't win you four Grand Slam titles, including a French Open victory in 2012 that finally completed the set and came after shoulder surgery threatened her career three years earlier.

"That was special," she said. "It being the Grand Slam I hadn't won and being the first one I've won after my surgery, just so many things came together."

So how did Sharapova get to this point?

She is not the first Russian bombshell to turn heads on tour, but she is much more than a pretty face gracing billboards in Times Square.

Sponsors like Nike, Tag Heuer, Tiffany and Co and Samsung pay millions for her to promote their products and now Sharapova has her own major business interest with her own candy line, Sugarpova, generating enormous Australian sales and set for its own department store launch in Melbourne next week.

It is just another hobby in the diverse interests of the world's most Googled woman.

"I'm very lucky to be in a position to do what I do. When I started playing tennis at four-years-old I never envisaged I'd be as successful as I am today," she said.

"You always dream and you dream big, I'm very fortunate to have other opportunities in my life and to balance those things.

"I always knew growing up there were so many other things I enjoyed. Of course I love the competition of tennis and that is why I play.

"I love what I do but I feel like the other things keep me grounded and keep me interested in my main focus which is tennis. If I didn't have those interests I think I would be pretty bored.

"I can't just sit on a couch. Three days off is enough for me, then I'm like, 'Where is my work?' I just want to be doing things."

Among her other interests include a love of architecture, which, if you're asking, any books on the topic is what you get someone who has everything, and interior design, because she is fascinated by the formation of nothing into something.

Which brings us back to the formation of Sharapova. Not the brand, the tennis star. The 2004 Wimbledon champ who has gone on to win the US Open (2006), Australian Open (2008) and last year the French Open to go with an Olympic silver medal and the honour of being the first woman to carry the Russian flag at the opening ceremony.

Amazing honours for a girl who moved to the US aged nine to join the Nick Bollettieri Academy to begin the journey on this dream.

"For that story though there are a million others that weren't as successful, so, of course, I'm very lucky but there is no secret to hard work," she said. "There are some people who are diehard fans of going in the gym and some people say 'Oh, I work out and I feel so good after' and I'm like 'What are you on?' That is so not me.

"But I'm professional enough to realise that is the work that I have to do to get better and improve and there are no shortcuts.

"There are days when you wake up and it's freezing outside and it's still dark and the last thing you want to do is go outside when maybe everyone is still in their pyjamas and you don't want to go out and practise hitting tennis balls.

"It's tough, you have to push yourself ... it's not always an easy ride and you go through a few setbacks here and there. But then on a Saturday afternoon when you're lifting the trophy, everyone is still in their pyjamas watching you on television and you realise that those mornings are pretty worth it."
 
#122 ·
http://www.brisbaneinternational.com.au/2013/01/sharapova-forced-to-withdraw
Sharapova forced to withdraw 1 January 2013


Sharapova forced to withdraw
brisbaneinternational.com.au with AAP Tuesday 1 January 2013

UPDATE 2.55pm: Second seed Maria Sharapova has withdrawn from the Brisbane International citing an ongoing right collarbone injury.

Sharapova had initially played down concerns over her availability in Brisbane after pulling out of a recent exhibition tournament in South Korea due to a neck concern.

But the reigning French Open champion pulled the pin on the Brisbane International for the second time after the right collarbone problem restricted her on the practice court.

“I had a bit of inflammation in my collarbone, and I sent it to my doctor in New York and he told me I couldn’t really do much overhead training for about a week. That week was actually on Monday,” Sharapova said.

“So to be fair, I haven’t really given myself a chance to pretty much hit any serves or anything over my head. Just been practicing groundstrokes. So I just kind of ran out of time here.

“I started practicing once I got here but couldn’t serve much ‑ actually at all until yesterday.

“Just a couple days of serving is not really enough to go out tomorrow and compete at a high level, which is unfortunate. I tried to give myself a chance, like I said, I just ran out of time a little bit.”

Tournament director Cameron Pearson released a statement with Sharapova a sufficient recovery to take the court for the Australian Open.

“We feel for Maria because we saw first-hand how badly she wanted to play for the people of Brisbane,” he said. “She has been fantastic since she got here and worked hard in the gym, on court and in the medical room to do everything she could to get herself right. Unfortunately she didn’t make it.”

She is replaced in the draw by lucky loser Lesia Tsurenko of Ukraine, who will meet Australian wildcard Jarmila Gajdosova in the second round.
 
#126 ·
@darrenrovell: Maria Sharapova is off the market again. Got confirmation she's dating Bulgarian tennis player, 21-year-old Grigor Dimitrov


:inlove:
 
#132 ·
OMG Masha and Grigor :hearts:

Better than Sasja :oh:
 
#143 ·
I can't believe how out of control the Grigor thing is. I don't know if it's true, but it's all over the Internet now. It was the top story on Yahoo a little while ago. Maybe I should tweet to some reporter that I'm dating Maria and try to start a rumor. Somehow I don't think they would believe me, but it might be worth a try.
 
#145 · (Edited)
This Darren Rovell is actually a sports business analyst.
When it was about Vujacic, he said "Max Eisenbud confirmed to me that...".
Now about "Dimitrova" he said "I got confirmation that...".
That is, it's her AGENT that treats about who can appear as an "official" relationship of hers.
And it seems to him that it's a matter to be divulged by a sports BUSINESS analyst.
It doesn't get more beardy than that.

Show business...

I wonder if it's her agent that ditched Camilla Belle.
 
#147 ·
Pre-tournament press conference with Maria Sharapova

Q. How do you feel?

MARIA SHARAPOVA: Good. I'm feeling really good. Obviously, I would have loved to have gone into Brisbane and play that. I wish I would have had maybe two, three extra days to be able to practice some more overhead stuff and serve and whatnot.

Yeah, but I came here a little bit earlier than obviously I would have wanted to. I've been able to get a lot of good practice in, playing on center court, be in Melbourne for a little bit.



Q. Can you describe what happened? Did you wake up with the neck stiff in the morning? Was that the first time it ever happened that it was bad enough to prevent you from practicing?

MARIA SHARAPOVA: It was something I was feeling a little bit. Then I woke up I think it was the day before Christmas Eve, it was a Sunday. I was like, Wow, this is not too good. Christmas Eve I had to do like a few tests, machines, MRI. It was just not good enough, certainly not for Korea, Dr. (indiscernible). If I get anything in that type of area... He just wanted to make sure that I really took care of that.



Q. Did it ruin your Christmas?

MARIA SHARAPOVA: Not at all. It actually gave me an extra couple days at home. I had more time to wrap (smiling). Just what I need in my life, another few presents to wrap.



Q. You've gone into Grand Slams a lot of different ways. Going in this time, does it really matter that you haven't had match play or does it not matter at all?

MARIA SHARAPOVA: I would have loved to come in with a few matches. But sometimes circumstances don't allow that, and that's okay.

To me, I'd rather be going onto the court knowing that I'm healthy. Yes, I might be a little bit rusty, but I'll work my way through it. I'm experienced enough to know the adjustments I have to make in those types of circumstances. I went to Brisbane. I certainly would have loved to step on the court and play those matches.



Q. Do you actually play matches?

MARIA SHARAPOVA: I did, yeah.



Q. Who would you play against?

MARIA SHARAPOVA: I played a couple of the junior boys here, actually a good couple Australian kids. I think one of them got a wild card in the main draw. I played against Daniela a set out on Margaret Court just now. It was nice to be able to go out and play in front of a crowd because I haven't done that in a bit.

Other than that, just some girls here and there.



Q. You handled those junior boys okay, no problem?

MARIA SHARAPOVA: Hmm. One of them was really on top of me and then I got really mad. I think he had eight set points and I ended up winning the set. I'm not going to tell who it is. Too embarrassed. I don't think he slept well after that one.

Then another one, I think it was Luke Saville, we didn't actually finish. The set took too long.

Yeah, it was just nice to be able to have different types of game styles as well.



Q. Joining Twitter sometime this month?

MARIA SHARAPOVA: I am.



Q. When is that going to happen?

MARIA SHARAPOVA: It's a surprise (smiling).



Q. Do you have a user name picked out and everything?

MARIA SHARAPOVA: Maybe (smiling).



Q. Can you give us a hint?

MARIA SHARAPOVA: I would tell you if I could.



Q. You were pretty active on Facebook. You've grown to like it a lot more now?

MARIA SHARAPOVA: That's my New Year's resolution, to be a little more active. I was getting a little lazy in the last few years. Certainly the last six months I wanted to step it up. I'm actually really enjoy doing it. I like to write. When I'm taking pictures now, I'm actually thinking of taking pictures for my fans to be able to see what's going on in my life a little bit. I think it's a really nice interaction. I also like writing, making it fun and interesting, giving a different perspective than what people see of me on a daily basis in my sport.



Q. Is Sugarpova putting it more out there as a saleswoman, a brand partially?

MARIA SHARAPOVA: I mostly do it for my fans. I think I have over nine million fans. I don't quite really believe that. I think Max is probably just pressing the button all the time, all the different computers, all his different devices.

But it's certainly a great way to reach out to the world. I mean, when I look at the incredible fan base I have from all around the world, no matter. I just went to Brazil, I haven't been there in a few years, just to see the excitement, to see a different fan base.

When people write me letters, they mention their only kind of connection that's more personal is through my social media. That's when I realize it's so important to me.



Q. Do you ever answer any of those letters? Nine million people are a lot.

MARIA SHARAPOVA: The letters or the Facebook posts?



Q. The communications.

MARIA SHARAPOVA: I don't write letters back. Most of them end with, Can you please send me an autograph? Yeah, my mother and I actually have a whole system where she goes through all the mail and I sign as many as I can back.



Q. What was another New Year's resolution?

MARIA SHARAPOVA: Oh, I don't know. You know New Year's resolutions never come true. I just hope to keep one, so...

I'm not very good at those. But this one I'm going to try really hard.



Q. Tennis wise?

MARIA SHARAPOVA: Are you asking me for my goals for this year?



Q. Whatever you want to talk about.

MARIA SHARAPOVA: Yeah, I mean, I certainly have a lot of goals. The off season was a really good time for me to look back on the previous year, just settle down, have some time off. I was also thinking about the things I want to work on, goals I want to accomplish.

But those are just step by steps. I don't like to talk about my open goals too much.



Q. You mentioned looking back. Do you look back on who you were five years ago and all that's gone on since then? What do you make of all that?

MARIA SHARAPOVA: Certainly I was playing some of my best tennis in my career. Little did I know six months later I would not be playing tennis at all.

It's certainly nice to look back at those memories, nice to be able to sit here. I think this is, what, my 9th or 10th year playing the Australian Open. It's nice to be still here in the middle of my career and go out on a court and compete in front of thousands of people.



Q. Is it good to be back in Australia?

MARIA SHARAPOVA: It is. I'm not sure if it's because you're training for a month and a half and you're officially board of training and life in that period of time that you really want to get going again.

You're just over the fitness, you're over your coach for a little bit. You really want to go out into a match atmosphere. Part of it is because you're coming here. It's summertime. Everyone is in a great mood, chatty, probably half drunk it's so hot, you just want cold Mojitos.

But, yeah, I love it. They're so passionate about the sport itself.



Q. When you won in 2008, six months later you were out with the shoulder, was there anything here that you could feel here, a little sensation?

MARIA SHARAPOVA: I don't want to look back to that. Yeah, I mean, certainly anything with the shoulder, the surgery, it's not the most pleasant memories.



Q. Because Serena has been playing so great and is considered by many as the favorite to win the tournament, does it take a little bit of the pressure off everyone else and put it pretty much on her shoulders?

MARIA SHARAPOVA: I think everyone reacts to it a little bit differently. There's a reason why everyone's playing here and everyone's in the draw. You can't worry about somebody else that's not even close to you in a certain part of the draw. You have to take it a step at a time.

That's certainly my goal and my job here.



Q. You've had a lot of tight matches with Venus over the years. What are your thoughts on that matchup?

MARIA SHARAPOVA: First of all, we still have to get to that point and then we can discuss it further.

There's no doubt that she's a champion, an experienced one at that. No matter where she's ranked, what level she's at, she's a tough opponent.



Q. When you haven't played much at all going into a slam, how do you keep yourself calm knowing that you might not play your best early on and build from there?

MARIA SHARAPOVA: I think it's just experience, maybe giving yourself that extra slack in case you do make a few more errors, you don't concentrate maybe as well as you would if you were in that match groove.

But, yeah, just giving yourself a little bit more room for error I guess as well, going out there. Just because you're rusty doesn't mean you're not going to play well. You might maybe go for a little bit more in certain situations.

I'm too experienced to feel that way. I shouldn't be feeling that way.
 
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