Nightlife Posted January 15, 2012 Posted January 15, 2012 Maria on Facebook: Look who I found in the locker room wearing the same Nike sweatshirt and leggings...I think I might have to lock my suitcases from now on!! Quote
Nightlife Posted January 15, 2012 Posted January 15, 2012 Maria Sharapova set for a glam slam at the Australian Open HAPPY, fit and in love, Maria Sharapova is ready to make a big impact this week at the Australian Open. The Russian superstar, 24, who Forbes magazine says is the highest paid female athlete in the world, earned an estimated $25 million last year. And she certainly looked a million dollars at an exclusive photo shoot with the Sunday Herald Sun where she unveiled the new Nike dress named the Statement Slam Dress, which she helped design and will wear at the tournament. Nike is just one of the companies Sharapova endorses - she has dozens of lucrative endorsement deals. But she said it was not money that made her happy, but being healthy and surrounded by family, good friends and her fiance, Slovenian basketballer Sasha Vujacic. "At the end of the day money can only bring you a certain amount of happiness, and even that doesn't really fulfil your life," she said, wearing a beautiful diamond engagement ring. "For me, from a young age, I've really appreciated the little things and I still do. "Whether it's a good meal in a little hole in the wall and I'm surrounded by good company and great friends, it's like the best time I could have." Vujacic is not with her in Australia - he is playing basketball in Turkey for the year. "It's a little tough with the travelling, as he's playing in Turkey and it's kind of made the travel a bit more," she said. "But we're still young. So we still have a long career ahead of us and when we're done, we'll get to spend some good quality home time together." Sharapova arrived in Melbourne early after withdrawing from Brisbane as a precaution after an ankle injury. But she declared herself fit and ready for the Open. Quote
Nightlife Posted January 16, 2012 Posted January 16, 2012 Maria Sharapova practice sessions: Australian Open 2012 Quote
Nightlife Posted January 16, 2012 Posted January 16, 2012 Australian Open Pre-Tournament Interview Q. How is the body feeling at the moment? MARIA SHARAPOVA: Yeah, good. I've been in Melbourne for some time now. Came here a little bit early. I was thinking of maybe playing a tournament the week before. Just thought it would be good to stay here and train and get ready. I wasn't really in a hurry to go and play a tournament when I didn't feel like, you know, I had enough practice and all. But, yeah, it's been really good. The body feels really good. Q. You had a set on Margaret Court. MARIA SHARAPOVA: Yeah, it was good. I spoke to Craig Tiley a week ago and he mentioned the Kids' Day, if somehow I wanted to be involved in it. I knew there was little doubles and stuff going on. I knew I hadn't played a lot of matches. I thought it would be great if I could go out and play a set. It was good. Q. Is the ankle healed right now or are you unsure of some moves? MARIA SHARAPOVA: Yeah, it's healed pretty well. It just didn't heal as fast as I thought it would. But, yeah, it feels good now. Q. Are you worried about lacking matches and starting your season in a Grand Slam? MARIA SHARAPOVA: I prefer to be going into the first Grand Slam healthy, not necessarily thinking that I've not played a lot of matches. To me health is the most important. Q. There's a lot of the top players carrying injuries coming into this tournament. Is that a little unusual? MARIA SHARAPOVA: Uhm, I'm not sure. You know, it's a pretty tough sport. We play for many months out of the year. My injury was a sprained ankle, so it was a little bit unlucky. Everyone has a few nagging injuries. It's just part of our careers. It's just how we go about it and try to heal it at fast as possible. Q. Does it make it any easier to deal with? MARIA SHARAPOVA: To be honest, I think everyone's really selfish and just thinking about themselves (laughter). I'll be really honest with you. Q. Does that include yourself? MARIA SHARAPOVA: Yes, yes, yes (smiling). Q. You have the younger players on the tour emerging and some of the older players like Serena Williams and Kim Clijsters. You're in the middle. Where do you feel like you fit in? MARIA SHARAPOVA: Do I need to feel like I fit in, placement on the grid? Q. How do you see the battle between the younger and older players and where you fit into that? MARIA SHARAPOVA: Uhm, define 'young'. Q. Early 20s, Kvitova, Wozniacki. MARIA SHARAPOVA: Because 24 is not past 25, so I would say that's still kind of early 20s. I just woke up a couple weeks ago and I thought to myself, When I was 18, I'd be thinking, Gosh, would I still be playing at 25. Wow, seven years. But now I'm 24 and I wake up and I still feel like I have so many more years ahead of me. Q. Do you remember your first year here? MARIA SHARAPOVA: In the juniors or in pros? Q. In the juniors even. MARIA SHARAPOVA: Yeah, I remember losing in the final of the juniors and not being too happy about it. Q. Just coming to Australia, what type of person were you, what type of player? What was the experience like? MARIA SHARAPOVA: Yeah, at that age it's all about experience. I don't think there's really a bad experience you can have. When you're at that point in your career, you're just learning and everything is coming to you. You win or lose, you're benefitting from all of it. You learn if you lose the matches. If you win, you improve your ranking and so on, people notice you and all that. Yeah, it was an important time in my career 'cause those were the years where I kind of went from the juniors and started playing more pros. It's a pretty important transition for any player. Q. Wozniacki was saying when she first came here she was 13. You got to be around the stars. Did you ever feel that way, wide eyed, not thinking, Oh, my God, there's Steffi or Monica? MARIA SHARAPOVA: Was Steffi still playing then? Q. No, sorry. She stopped in '99. MARIA SHARAPOVA: Actually I had that experience more so growing up in Florida and going to the Miami tournament every year. I remember my parents and I would drive down just to go and see the matches. I actually preferred going and seeing the men playing. I remember loving going to Marcelo Rios' matches and having a good laugh, watching some fun tennis, Kafelnikov as well. Yeah, that was my real experience where I wasn't there to play but just to see the players and to watch tennis. Q. It's hard for us to get an understanding who the favorite might be on the women's side of things. We don't know how bad all the injuries are. Do you see as a competitor somebody that stands out? MARIA SHARAPOVA: Is it any different than other years? Q. Probably not. But there were four different Grand Slam winners last year. It's tough to get a read on it. MARIA SHARAPOVA: You just want me to help you with that? Q. Yes. MARIA SHARAPOVA: That's a tough one because we all come in here trying to be as prepared as we can. This is the start of a new year for us. We're coming off a little bit of an off‑season where we're training on the things maybe we feel we needed to improve. It just kind of gives us time to settle down and get away from the tour life for a little bit. This is just where it begins. I think it's not just for you or anyone in this room, but for me, too, it's cool to see how everyone comes out of it, where they are, where they're playing, where their level is. Q. What was it like when you went to Miami as a player? MARIA SHARAPOVA: First time I went to Miami as a player, they had like a junior version of the Miami tournament. I think it was maybe eight girls. I remember playing Gisela Dulko in the finals of this tournament actually. We had quite the battle, one of those Court 17s or something. Yeah, I think I won. Maybe I lost. I don't know. I remember it was three sets because it was probably the longest junior match I ever played. Yeah, it's all experience. Like I said, that's one of the most important transitional stages as a tennis player, from the juniors going to the pros. Q. Is it fair to say that 2008 when you won here was the best level you ever had? MARIA SHARAPOVA: I think throughout a two‑week stage, for sure. No matter who you are, it's pretty tough to have a high level over seven matches in 14 days. You're bound to have some letdowns, maybe conditions, your opponent, maybe just not a good day. I actually thought the final was probably one of the worst matches I played in the whole couple of weeks as far as level goes. But, yeah, it was the toughest draw that I think I ever had in my career, as well, so... Q. Then your level over the last year compared to 2008 at times. MARIA SHARAPOVA: I think my level was much more consistent than where I saw it at the couple years before that, you know, following the shoulder surgery. It was a big step for me in the right direction. We talked about all my changes that I made in the beginning of the year, new coach, new racquet. Obviously a lot of uncertainty. One level where I wasn't going up or down. It's tough. You make those changes and you want to benefit from them, but you're not quite sure when and how. Yeah, I didn't really start the year off on the best note. I lost here in the fourth round. I got sick playing Paris. Didn't play in Fed Cup. It was kind of, Where is this going? Then all of a sudden things clicked because ultimately when you put in the work, it's going to pay off. Maybe not tomorrow, maybe not in one week, but maybe in many months. Q. Can you talk about the things that you've been working on in your game now. MARIA SHARAPOVA: Yeah, I mean, for me it's just being aggressive and finding ways to move forward and finishing the points closer to the net. I mean, if I'm running around and playing 10‑, 20‑ball rallies, it usually means I'm not playing my game. You know, first ball after the serve, being aggressive on the return, the first balls are very important. Yeah, things like that, moving forward, getting faster, yeah. Quote
yulkin27 Posted January 17, 2012 Posted January 17, 2012 Maria Sharapova at press conference in Melbourne, 14 January Quote
yulkin27 Posted January 17, 2012 Posted January 17, 2012 Maria Sharapova exhibition game on Kid’s Tennis Day at the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 14 January Quote
Nightlife Posted January 17, 2012 Posted January 17, 2012 Sharapova Serves Notice When former Australian Open champion Maria Sharapova Quote
Nightlife Posted January 17, 2012 Posted January 17, 2012 Australian Open 1st Round Interview Q. Do you want to break it down? It's been a while since you played. Talk about how you struck the ball, movement, all that. MARIA SHARAPOVA: Yeah. You know, I had a pretty tough first‑round opponent coming into my first event of the year, someone that's beaten me the last time we played at a major. She can definitely play some really good tennis. I think I was just mentally prepared for that. I was getting ready, I've been practicing here. Overall, you know, I think I played pretty good and aggressive, and she's someone that likes to have time to create her shots. You know, she has great hands. It was just important to try to take that away from her. Yeah, I was a little bit sloppy in a couple of the games. Other than that, I thought it was good for a first round. Q. Did you have fear of the ankle? MARIA SHARAPOVA: No. Q. Or when you went out, did you feel you practiced hard enough? MARIA SHARAPOVA: Yeah. You know, I think from the past I could have gone into Brisbane, maybe another event, and said I might not be a hundred percent tennis‑ready, but I want to come into the Grand Slam with a few matches. That's not really the way my mentality is. I'd rather come in feeling good physically than feeling like I played a lot of matches. It's more important to me than anything. I've been on the tour for many years, played enough tournaments, I just want to be as ready as I can for the big ones. Q. It was pretty hot out there. How did it affect you? MARIA SHARAPOVA: Yeah, I've been through many stages of weather here in the last couple of weeks. I came here. First couple days I think it was 40 degrees. Actually had to close the roof for practice, in one of the practices, and then we went into winter weather, then back into the heat. It's quite random. But, yeah, you know, I like this weather. Obviously I prefer it to be a little bit cooler. This is part of the Australian Open: you just never know what you're going to get. Maybe the next few days it will cool down. But it does get, on the court, pretty warm. Q. I know she beat you at Wimbledon. You played exhibitions with her. Is that familiarity level, you kind of know what's coming? MARIA SHARAPOVA: Yeah. We know each other's games really well. Like you say, we grew up together in the juniors. She's one of the few that I played doubles with actually in my so‑called short‑term doubles career. Yeah, you know, I know how she can play. I know the quality that she can produce. Some of her best tennis is on clay. I think that's when she likes the ball to be kind of a little bit higher. She likes to get you off the court. She has many weapons when you give her that time. I think it was just important, you know, not to give her that, what she likes. Q. Walking on the court, talk about what kind of feeling do you get? Is the excitement still there? You can't wait to start? MARIA SHARAPOVA: Yeah, especially this one, I couldn't wait to start. It feels like forever since I've been, you know, playing a match where I feel pretty good physically. It's just nice to go into a match you know that you're going to compete again at such a high level in front of so many people, especially a place where I've won before. Yeah, I've had enough training. After the off‑season, you're ready to play, ready to go out and play matches. Q. Back to what you said before, you've been on the tour now a while. Do you feel like you need a lot of matches going into tournaments, or are you experienced enough now and you've obviously hit enough balls in training where you feel you can go out there and it doesn't matter as much? MARIA SHARAPOVA: It sometimes depends. Of course I would have preferred to have played a few matches, there's no doubt. But really, my thought process is maybe a little bit different, as I told you before. But I have experience, you know, in how to handle going into a Grand Slam maybe with not as many matches. You know, went into Wimbledon not having played an event before; whereas maybe years before I played Birmingham and all that. I feel like if you can put in the time on the practice court and if you're healthy enough, you have that energy, because sometimes when you go out on the court, you keep practicing, practicing, sometimes the concentration, the level is not as high as when you go out and you compete and play a match. But if you can have that intensity pretty high and if you feel pretty good, then sometimes it's even better to have that practice week. Q. I'm guessing you don't know much about your next opponent. MARIA SHARAPOVA: No, I don't, not too much. I think my coach will do a little scouting Quote
Nightlife Posted January 17, 2012 Posted January 17, 2012 Maria Sharapova 2012 Australian Open Round 1 Quote
Nightlife Posted January 17, 2012 Posted January 17, 2012 Small 1st round highlights vid encoded in mp4. http://www.megaupload.com/?d=UAPKJRTY For anyone who missed the match, you can watch it in full here streamed in reasonable quality flash. http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMzQzOTAyMzM2.html Quote
Nightlife Posted January 17, 2012 Posted January 17, 2012 Maria Sharapova 2012 Australian Open Round 1 Quote
Nightlife Posted January 17, 2012 Posted January 17, 2012 Maria Sharapova 2012 Australian Open Round 1 Quote
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