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Maria Sharapova's Interviews |
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| Maria Sharapova's Wimbledon 2011 Third Round Interview |
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| June 25, 2011 |
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| Question |
You made the semis here in '05 and '06. Are you surprised that you're the favorite to win the tournament this year? |
| Maria Sharapova |
I haven't really put as much expectations as maybe you guys have on me based on the fact that, like you said, I haven't been past the fourth round for a few years.
I'm happy at this point that I got to where I am last year, and hopefully this year I can go a step further and even more.
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| Question |
How would you sum up the first week? How well do you think you're playing? Do you feel you need to improve to get to this stage next week? |
| Maria Sharapova |
Well, there's no doubt you have to improve with the second week coming. I think that's always the toughest part. That's where you hope you raise your level towards.
The opponents get tougher, the more matches you play, especially at a Grand Slam stage. Raising your level is what it's all about at the Grand Slams, especially the second week. |
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| Maria Sharapova's Wimbledon 2011 Second Round Interview |
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| June 24, 2011 |
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| Question |
How do you feel you played? |
| Maria Sharapova |
Uhm, I felt like I started off really slow and, uhm, she started off really well. Quite the opposite of me, I think she was much more aggressive than I was in the beginning.
Uhm, you know, she hit the ball deep. I think I was playing too much defense. And she was serving really well. So it didn't feel like I had too many looks on second serve.
But then, yeah, I just kind of got my rhythm a little bit and started playing better and, yeah.
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| Question |
What were your overall impressions of her performance? |
| Maria Sharapova |
I thought she played really well. Like I said, she started off, you know, really good, hitting the ball deep, on the line many times. I found myself, you know, on the defense just retrieving, yeah. |
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| Maria Sharapova's Wimbledon 2011 First Round Interview |
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| June 21, 2011 |
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| Question |
How did it feel to be back on the grass? |
| Maria Sharapova |
Yeah, it was great to be back on Centre Court, considering that I didn't play a warmup tournament. I felt like I had to be ready from the first point. I played against an opponent that's been in the top 10 before. Hasn't had the best results this year. But you don't quite know what to expect. I'm sure, you know, she'd come out in the match and have nothing to lose. I thought she played a really good match, and I really had to step it up. I thought I did a good job of that.
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| Question |
It was all Russian once again. In the past you've talked about Russian tennis. You've said there's not too many alternatives. Also talk about some of the other elements, the toughness of the culture, the roles of Kournikova, Yeltsin, the Olympics, if you would. |
| Maria Sharapova |
Yeah, it's a really big country, full of incredible culture, and many great athletes have come from the country, not just from the sport of tennis. We're very fortunate because I think we were given the drive from our parents. That really encouraged us and sacrificed a lot in our careers to get us to a point where we want to be in our certain careers. I think we have to thank them for that. Because when you're at a young age, everything is in their hands from the drives to the practices to the encouragement on bad days. Yeah, in the beginning it was a lot about the Olympic sports and hockey, in the beginning of my life, and gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics. Now tennis is one of the biggest sports there. |
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| Maria Sharapova's Wimbledon Pre-Tournament Interview |
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| June 19, 2011 |
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| Question |
Can you tell us what you've been doing between Paris and here. |
| Maria Sharapova |
Just training a lot on grass. I headed over to London a couple of days after I finished and been here since, yeah, training.
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| Question |
How did you feel back on the grass? |
| Maria Sharapova |
Great. This is one of the best, you know, parts of the year for me. It's one of the toughest transitions from clay to grass, but for me it's a lot of fun. The bounce is low; it's quick. |
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| Maria Sharapova on her Quarter Final annihilation of Andrea Petkovic |
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| June 01, 2011 |
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Maria Sharapova beat Andrea Petkovic in straight sets 6-0, 6-3 to claim a semi-final berth at Roland Garros along with the title of favourite in what is left of a severely depleted women's draw. The match was not as one dimensional as the scoreboard suggests, but Sharapova was by far the better player on the day. She will next take on Chinese star Na Li in the semi-final as she looks to win her first ever French Open crown.
In her post match media interaction, Sharapova spoke about her quarter-final match and how things unfolded from her side of the court.
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| Question |
You had a tough first game there, and then you kind of rolled. You know, you have had a problem sort of revving your engines here in matches, sort of getting behind, but clearly that wasn't the case here before. |
| Maria Sharapova |
Yeah, there were a few games in the beginning that went to deuce and ad in and ad out. Even though the first set was 6-0, we played it for quite a bit of time because of those long games.
You know, I just did really well in those, you know, those important points in the first set. I think that was the difference in the beginning. And then, yeah, there was a little bit of an up and down in the second, but... |
| Question |
This is your first time at this stage of a major since Australia '08. Can you just talk about that journey and I what it feels like to be back here? |
| Maria Sharapova |
Yeah, it's really exciting to be back in the semis here, you know, in general. I put a lot of work in, you know, to be in this stage of the Grand Slams. You know, I'm really happy that it's here. I'm going to have a chance to go further. |
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