[Crux Squall]

http://tennis.com/articles/templates...7968&zoneid=25

CutePova

[Craig.]

I fucking love her.

[joão.]

She still needs an account.

[joão.]

M. SHARAPOVA/A. Morita 6‑1, 6‑1



MARIA SHARAPOVA



Q. Can you maybe share how was your day yesterday with the delay and then it was postponed and how you approached this match this morning?

MARIA SHARAPOVA: Yeah, it was a pretty long day yesterday. I feel like I warmed up like 20 times for this match (smiling).

Yeah, it was one of those days where you just want to get on the court and then, you know, you’re at the courts all day, and sitting, waiting around, eating, sleeping. It’s like a good way to put someone into retirement. (Smiling).

It was nice. Nice to get out there today and finish it and get in a third round.



Q. Where do you think your game is right now and how do you feel about it? How do you think about your prospects in this tournament?

MARIA SHARAPOVA: Yeah, I was happy with the way I played today. I never faced my opponent before. Yeah, when she has time, she really goes for her shots. I really wanted to try to get her on the move. I thought I played well, aggressive, moved in when I had to.

Yeah, with every round I’m going to be playing tougher opponents, and that’s when you really want to kind of step it up and raise your level. That’s what I’ll try to do in the next round.



Q. You talked before the tournament about what it would mean to come back and be No. 1. What would it mean to win this title and complete a career Grand Slam?

MARIA SHARAPOVA: Well, if I didn’t have any Grand Slams, it would mean a lot to win on its own. You know, I don’t need all the other, you know, things, if it’s the one I haven’t won or it’s the one I need to win. I mean, such a big event for us and an important one, and, yeah, one that I’ve always wanted to be a champion at. It’s still a goal of mine and something I look forward to. But not because it’s not the one I haven’t won, but because it’s Roland Garros and you want to win it.



Q. But that said, the players that have achieved it are a very special breed of player to adapt to all those different conditions, surfaces, venues. What would it mean for you to join them?

MARIA SHARAPOVA: Oh, it would mean a lot to join them. I mean, of course. But it’s not something that you think of, well, it will be nice to join them. I think it’s more of a personal achievement than anything else.



Q. So you saw what happened with Serena, and you probably didn’t see, but Radwanska lost easily today. You have been in big situations when things get tense. How do you avoid getting nervous and letting the moment take away from you and actually being able to play your game without imploding, falling apart?

MARIA SHARAPOVA: I don’t think you avoid it. I don’t think it’s something you can avoid. If you feel tension and you feel nerves, you’re human to feel it. I think it’s how you actually deal with them and how you cooperate, if you let them get to you. You know, sometimes you’re in the moment and you’re able to zone in, and sometimes you think a little bit too much, and it gets overwhelming out there.

But, I mean, pressure and nerves are ‑‑ they are always going to be there. That’s part of the game. If you don’t feel a little bit of something in certain situations, then it’s tough to kind of raise the level. Because when you have those nerves, you feel like you have to come up with something. At that point it’s either you can or you can’t.



Q. I know a little bit happens generally all the time, but what happens when it’s a lot of nerves, something you generally don’t experience week in and week out? Then what do you do? Do you say, Hit the heck out of the ball? Oh, I’ve got to forget about it?

MARIA SHARAPOVA: Maybe wait until next time when it doesn’t get so bad. (Smiling.)

I don’t know. I mean, your options at that point are pretty limited. No, maybe there is a magic pill for it. I don’t know. I don’t think there is.



Q. You’re one of the top players that shuns Twitter. I’m just wondering, you know, why you haven’t decided to go on that media platform.

MARIA SHARAPOVA: I think it’s too much for me. I mean, I’m bored with myself on a daily basis, and I think if I’m bored, like eating a bowl of pasta, I don’t need to let the world know that I’m at this restaurant eating a bowl of pasta.

That’s my opinion about it now. Maybe that can change, but I feel like it’s very ‑‑ just too much every day to tweet and to write. I write enough texts a day. I can’t even imagine what it would be like if I would tweet constantly. I’m like, I’m getting arthritis in my thumbs. I already text so much, it’s embarrassing.



Q. Are you worried at all about how things you say might be reacted to?

MARIA SHARAPOVA: Not at all. No, I have Facebook, which I love to write about, but for me Facebook is more like a travel journal for me than anything else.

I mean, I think I have already 7 million fans that I have no idea where they came from or who they are, but thank you if you’re live.

It’s just a nice opportunity I think for the people that really follow you to maybe get a little bit more personal and share things and write things that come from your own voice. I just like to write a lot, so I like to make it fun and very easygoing. It’s not going to be, you know, like science.

So I have fun with it. I take a lot more pictures now than I used to, because I feel like I want to share it on my Facebook than anywhere else.



Q. When Serena Williams lost the other day, there was a chance maybe Maria Sharapova’s chance to get all the way. Do you have a special thought or did you care what the other top players are doing?

MARIA SHARAPOVA: Well, it’s tough to be in the first round of a tournament and think, this person lost in the ‑‑ someone that you could face in the quarterfinal of a tournament. I think that’s just a really wrong way to look at things. If you’re thinking like that, then you’re at a big disadvantage, because, I mean, no matter who you play, if you get to the quarterfinals, no matter who you play, you have to play at a high level. You can’t worry about if it’s Serena or somebody else across the net. You have to beat them.

So if somebody beat her to get to that point, then they’re playing great and you have to go and try and beat them.



Q. You’re flying the world, playing great Championships, doing fantastic events like the press and the media.

MARIA SHARAPOVA: Wonderful (smiling). Go on. Let’s not exaggerate.



Q. What’s the boring bit? You said you were bored with Maria?

MARIA SHARAPOVA: I mean, just a routine. You go through the similar things on a daily basis, especially when you’re traveling and at tournaments. It’s just a lot of similar things. I don’t know. I mean, you guys know. You play a match, and we stretch. We go on the bike. We recover. We do a press conference. We go back. We, I don’t know, go on the Internet. I mean, I text. Then you go to sleep or you take a nap on a day off. It’s just very basic.

Then on the days off maybe you do something a little spontaneous. That’s pretty much it. It’s more exciting when you’re at home. Then you’re doing, like, home things and it’s wonderful.



Q. This is a question from fans. They want to know who, between you and Sasha, gets more nervous watching the other play? If you watch him play, do you get nervous, or does he get more nervous watching you play? Do you know how you guys…

MARIA SHARAPOVA: I think I keep it inside a lot more. Then I let it out later.

I don’t know. I would ‑‑ the only thing I have to say about that is it’s so much easier to play than to watch. I mean, I pay so much money when I’m watching just to be in that situation. It’s a unique thing and you can’t control anything, but you want to say things and scream things. Like if they’re just doing all the wrong things, you want to be like shake their head, like, What’s wrong with you? But then you know in that moment it’s always difficult and tough.

Yeah. But I’d rather be playing.

[MM_1257]

A transcript!!!!!!!! YAY!!!!!!! Praise the Gods.

[Asherahpova]

Loved the Sasha question.
Also, "Let's not exaggerate"

[MM_1257]

Originally Posted by gc-spurs

Nothing proves this more than her mobile phone whorriness, all the while we KNOW she has an iPhone.

We do? I'd actually go with the idea that she has a blackberry.. Been around her on too many pics. And that the iPhone is Adir's. But yup, she might have a BB, an iPhone and other phones, too. Wondering how much does she know to use of it... People saying she is not really a technical type.

[atominside]

Originally Posted by joão.

M. SHARAPOVA/A. Morita 6‑1, 6‑1




Q. This is a question from fans. They want to know who, between you and Sasha, gets more nervous watching the other play? If you watch him play, do you get nervous, or does he get more nervous watching you play? Do you know how you guys…

MARIA SHARAPOVA: I think I keep it inside a lot more. Then I let it out later.

I don’t know. I would ‑‑ the only thing I have to say about that is it’s so much easier to play than to watch. I mean, I pay so much money when I’m watching just to be in that situation. It’s a unique thing and you can’t control anything, but you want to say things and scream things. Like if they’re just doing all the wrong things, you want to be like shake their head, like, What’s wrong with you? But then you know in that moment it’s always difficult and tough.

Yeah. But I’d rather be playing.

ahem

[Cosmic Voices]

^^ omg was totally thinking the same

[s teddy]

[OlympianPova]

Thanks for posting the article jao. I can't wait for Maria to share her memoir with us. Probably after she retires.

[gc-spurs]

Originally Posted by Maja12

We do? I'd actually go with the idea that she has a blackberry.. Been around her on too many pics. And that the iPhone is Adir's. But yup, she might have a BB, an iPhone and other phones, too. Wondering how much does she know to use of it... People saying she is not really a technical type.

Lol I can't recall witch photo set it was.... maybe the ones when she's getting ready for the fake short hair shoot and after it. She's got an iPhone.

[lefty24]

Originally Posted by atominside

ahem

Originally Posted by serbian_siren

^^ omg was totally thinking the same

Me too.

She seems to be in a very good mood lately. I like these questions, more interesting than usual.

[lefty24]

Originally Posted by gc-spurs

Lol I can't recall witch photo set it was.... maybe the ones when she's getting ready for the fake short hair shoot and after it. She's got an iPhone.

Yup it's the one where it looks like they just finished curling her hair.

[shaktincredible]

if Sharapova have twitter i will reply every single thing she tweet *annoying follower*