Just talk about it. I mean, yesterday was a tough day, but today weather was a little better and you found some rhythm in the third set.
MARIA SHARAPOVA:
Yeah. It's just kind of been a strange tournament so far, from the first round, playing in very difficult conditions to a long wait yesterday.
I actually didn't think I was going to go on, you know, looking at the way the matches were going on our court. And then actually playing and, you know, playing quite well yesterday.
The conditions were heavier. The last time we played in Charleston everything was a lot and kind of got on a roll and played really well.
Yesterday, you know, the points were obviously a lot longer than in our previous meeting. I felt like, you know, I had to hit a few more to win the point, and I did a good job of that.
Then today I wake up and you feel like you're playing a different match in a another tournament, in a way. It's been kind of strange, but the good thing is I still have a match ahead of me.
What did you and Mike and your dad talk about after the first round just looking ahead about things you had to do to get the form where you want it.
MARIA SHARAPOVA:
Apart from the bad conditions and taking all those factors away, I personally didn't think that I was playing my game and doing, you know, the things that I do well and stepping in and hitting the ball.
I was just playing very tentative tennis. Obviously, you know, the conditions didn't help, and, you know, the wind and everything else. The more unforced errors you get, then you start thinking, Why am I making unforced errors?
And then you get more tentative, and it was just really important for me to take these matches as, you know, as practice and really learn from them. You just got to take care of business and take care of your side of the net.
I don't know if you talked about this in the beginning of the press conference, but just the late start last night. Were you asked about whether or not you wanted to go on the court? Were you happy, unhappy with going on so late when it looked like you probably wouldn't finish the match?
MARIA SHARAPOVA:
Well, looking at the way the matches were going on Suzanne Lenglen, I really didn't think we were going to go on. Because if it was past 8:00 there wouldn't be a chance.
But then like 7:15, we looked at the score on Philippe Chartrier, they said if that match finishes faster than the match that was supposed to play after, then we'd go on that court.
So it was, you know ‑‑ it's actually ‑‑ I don't know if that's the first time or the second time that I've had to stop a match and then play the next day, so I guess it's good for the experience factor.
Back to the photo shoot. I know you came to a resolution with that, but why did you decide to go public with that?
MARIA SHARAPOVA:
Why?
Yeah.
MARIA SHARAPOVA:
You know, just a few things. One was it was just a combination of the few different things, and not just the photo shoot. But I just felt like the players and I have been in numerous amounts of meetings throughout the years.
Sometimes you come back to the same issues and the same points, and you feel like you're talking about the same subject. You never feel like you're being heard.
I just think it's, you know, in the Tour's best interest to listen to what every player has to say. Not just top 10, not just the top 50, everybody.
Obviously everyone has different issues. One has prize money issues, one has other issues, and, you know, but we're working on it. You know, at the end of the day it's a partnership.
Without the tour we wouldn't be who we are, and without the top players the tour wouldn't be as successful. So it's important that we, you know, cooperate with each other and we work together, and ‑‑ yeah.
You felt like you couldn't resolve it in‑house, you really needed to take it outside?
MARIA SHARAPOVA:
Well, I really wanted to see what my fans thought. I really did. It's important. That's the beauty of a website, is the people that go to it are supporters of yours, and want to ‑‑ you know, have been fans of yours since a long time. You know, you want to know what they think.
Just talking about imposing your game, given that this tournament is all about conditions and change in conditions, the weather is probably going to be lousy in days to come. Is it all about adjustments for you now, or do you think you can go out there and say, All right, this is my base game. I've got to play this base game regardless of whether it's raining or snowing or...
MARIA SHARAPOVA:
Yeah, absolutely. To be honest, I just want to go out and play my game. It's as simple as that. And sometimes you just ‑‑ you get caught up in thinking that you want to do something more, something extra, and something special that sometimes is out of your hands.
You know, especially on a surface that's more challenging to you, you know, that where you're going to have to hit more balls and you're going to have to move a few extra steps to the ball.
You have to be more patient. I'm definitely getting better at that, and I'm getting smarter out there. But sometimes you want to go back to the roots, you know? You just want to drive the ball, and that's just not enough at times.
And, you know, but meanwhile it's ‑‑ look, I'm not a clay court specialist that's going to stand 10 feet behind the baseline and retrieve balls back. I'm going to stick to my guns and do what I do best. But I'm also going to play ‑‑ I'm also going to play patiently if I want to win matches, especially against, you know, physically‑challenging players that do, you know, hit 10 balls back.
But I also have to realize, you know, their game is a lot more physical than I am. If I feel tired then they're feeling 20 times more tired, because they're the one doing all the running.
One thing that might please you in the last year on clay you've won a lot of marathons. I know you don't like to play the marathons, but you've had a number of three set matches.
MARIA SHARAPOVA:
For some reason, they're all here. (Laughing.)
I don't know. I don't know why.
But Rome, too. And you won some long ones in Amelia, too, right?
MARIA SHARAPOVA:
Probably Rome, because I usually never play those tournaments.
But, yeah, that's clay for you. It's because sometimes you're not ‑‑ you're not always going to hold serve. You're going to break more than you usually break, because, I mean, look, last year I was serving 85 miles per hour and I got to the semifinals.
It was like a miracle and its own self. I mean, I'm not going to get away with that. It's a combination of things, you know. Like I want to do the right things, but also I have to be patient.
Sometimes it's definitely not going to be as easy as, you know, maybe on grass or hardcourts for me. But, you know, like I say, that's the beauty of it.
When you win Wimbledon at a young age, it forces you to be scrutinized and sort of grow up in the public eye.
MARIA SHARAPOVA:
Uh‑huh.
You have to sort of deal with that, embrace that.
MARIA SHARAPOVA:
Right.
And I'm just wondering if you think sometimes that you wish you could, you know, live your life a little bit, make your mistakes, do whatever it is you do...
MARIA SHARAPOVA:
I still make numerous amounts of mistakes.
Right. We all do, right?
MARIA SHARAPOVA:
Exactly. Except mine are visible in front of millions of people, (laughter) and yours are in front of your parents, you know.
Do you feel at 21 now that you're able to sort of ride those ups and downs and the mistakes maybe better than when you were 17 or 18? Can you talk a little bit about that?
MARIA SHARAPOVA:
Yeah, absolutely. The more experience and the older you get ‑‑ and I hate to say this because I am only 21 years old ‑‑ but when you're 17, when you're 16, things just take you by surprise. They come to you.
I mean, the things that I experienced after, the morning after I won Wimbledon, it's just ‑‑ you just wake up and you just feel it. You feel it. You go out your door and a van is following you. Was I ready for that? I mean, it teaches you. That's not something you learn.
It comes with it. I think the most important thing is obviously, you know, realizing how you got there and what it took, and, you know, how much you sacrificed in your life to know that you didn't really get to that point, you know, being given everything by others.
You worked at it and you worked hard at it, and then when you're successful and when you have all these things coming to you, you also have to ‑‑ you also have to have a lot of your own moments where you're sort of in your own self and thinking, prioritizing, what's important to you.
Just now that you're 21 what might seem like big deal or overwhelming at 17 doesn't as much anymore?
MARIA SHARAPOVA:
So many things, I think. The expectations ‑‑ I mean, after I won Wimbledon, I felt like there are so many expectations from me. That really took me by surprise, because it was like if you won a Grand Slam at 17, all of a sudden I thought everybody thought I should be winning a Grand Slam every single year, and all them.
That was kind of absurd to me, you know. And now I don't ‑‑ now I deal with expectations fine. I don't really care about them. You know, I have the confidence in my own self to know what, you know, I do well. I know my own faults, and I'm not scared of them.
I try to improve them, and, you know ‑‑ but there are still ‑‑ every single day I still get surprised by many things, believe it or not.
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