Post by Admin on May 14, 2014 22:28:28 GMT
Maria Sharapova began her campaign with a 6-3 7-5 victory over qualifier Monica Puig to make it 12 wins from 12 on clay in 2014. Sharapova, who has won back-to-back tournaments in Stuttgart and Madrid, will now face former world No.1 Ana Ivanovic in the next round in a repeat of the Stuttgart final last month.
“I haven’t thought about myself as the Queen of Clay, but I certainly feel that I’ve improved a lot on this surface,” Sharapova said. “I really trained myself to become better because I always struggled on it when I was younger. I realized I had no choice but to try to get stronger, prepare better, recover better and work on those things because they don’t just come automatically.”
“It just wasn’t that much fun because I was tall and I never felt very comfortable on it,” Sharapova said of the red dirt. “But I always felt like I learned a lot. I always saw it as a learning experience.” Has she learned to enjoy playing on it, though? Not exactly. “I enjoy winning on it more than I enjoy playing on it,” Sharapova said.
“I thought I had a good preparation for it and I just didn’t show up the way I wanted to,” she said. “I was disappointed and I wasn’t happy with that result. I had a few days in between that and Miami to really commit and to work and to keep going for it.” After a short training block, Sharapova came to Miami and battled her way through the early rounds until something finally clicked. She lost to Williams in the semifinals, but finally felt like herself again, with her on-court energy and attitude improved. “After Miami, I was drinking a mojito in Mexico, and I was quite happy with myself at that point,” she said. “I knew that it was going to be a long season ahead, but I was ready for it. I’m not scared of the work. I was ready to commit.”
“I haven’t thought about myself as the Queen of Clay, but I certainly feel that I’ve improved a lot on this surface,” Sharapova said. “I really trained myself to become better because I always struggled on it when I was younger. I realized I had no choice but to try to get stronger, prepare better, recover better and work on those things because they don’t just come automatically.”
“It just wasn’t that much fun because I was tall and I never felt very comfortable on it,” Sharapova said of the red dirt. “But I always felt like I learned a lot. I always saw it as a learning experience.” Has she learned to enjoy playing on it, though? Not exactly. “I enjoy winning on it more than I enjoy playing on it,” Sharapova said.
“I thought I had a good preparation for it and I just didn’t show up the way I wanted to,” she said. “I was disappointed and I wasn’t happy with that result. I had a few days in between that and Miami to really commit and to work and to keep going for it.” After a short training block, Sharapova came to Miami and battled her way through the early rounds until something finally clicked. She lost to Williams in the semifinals, but finally felt like herself again, with her on-court energy and attitude improved. “After Miami, I was drinking a mojito in Mexico, and I was quite happy with myself at that point,” she said. “I knew that it was going to be a long season ahead, but I was ready for it. I’m not scared of the work. I was ready to commit.”