Other Sports February 2008

Kids’ play for Maria

Queen of Scream wants to be a mum

The only shrieking Maria Sharapova wants to hear 10 years from now will be coming from her babies, with the newly-crowned Australian Open champion vowing to quit tennis before she hits 30.

The Russian queen of scream is just 20 years old but secured her third Grand Slam at Melbourne Park with a straight sets win over Ana Ivanovic.

US-based Sharapova said she had a deep love of the game but also wanted to have a family and would not stretch out her career for too long.

“No. Definitely not,” she replied when asked if she would play on until 2018.

“I hope by that time I’ll have a nice husband and a few kids.”
Sharapova also ruled out making a comeback as a racquet-wielding tennis mum like Lindsay Davenport, whom she beat in the second round on her way to claiming the Australian title.

“I don’t think you’ll see me back playing, take my word for it,” she said.

Sharapova said she felt she had earned the rewards that tennis success had brought, giving her a sense of accomplishment that allowed her to hold her head high when branded a “spoiled brat”.
“When I see other 20-year-olds that might be driving in their Range Rover I know that I worked for mine, I have that satisfaction,” said the world number five, who picked up a $1.2-million winner’s cheque at the Australian Open.

“Sometimes you get those dirty looks, where they’re looking at you and thinking ‘that spoiled brat, who is that, her father probably bought her a Range Rover’.

“Like ‘no honey!’ I bought that myself.

“In those moments you feel mature.”

Sharapova said she had been forced to grow up quickly after winning Wimbledon as a teenager in 2004.

“Because I achieved success so early in my career by winning Wimbledon at 17, I think it just automatically makes you older because all of a sudden you’re a Grand Slam champion.

“You’re expected to win more Grand Slams, you’re expected to win every tournament you play and it makes you so much more mature.”
She said the grind of being on the women’s tour also had its downsides, including lengthy enforced separations for her parents – father Yuri, who accompanies her on tour, and mother Yelena, who is rarely seen at tennis tournaments.

“It’s strange because my career, though amazing, has brought us a lot of downfalls,” she said.

“My parents don’t get to see each other very often. But those are the sacrifices that I and my family have to make. We’ve been through a much tougher process (than others) with not seeing my mum when I was younger.”

Despite the talk of retirement, Sharapova said she retained her passion for tennis.

“To do something that you love to do and being good at it, there’s no better gift,” she said.

“When I step on the court, it’s a place I love to be in and nothing will ever change that “I forget about past matches, I just draw my attention to the things I want to work on, all those things, positive or negative, they just go away.

“There’s a holiday break, Christmas-time, two great days off and then you’re back on the court and it’s like it never ended.

“When I go on there everything else is gone.”
Despite dominating the Australian Open to win her third Grand Slam title, Sharapova has warned her rivals that she has not even peaked yet.

At 20, she says her body is becoming stronger, and who could argue after beating three of the top four players in the world on her way to the season-opening Grand Slam win.

“I know I’ve already won three Grand Glams and I know I keep saying this, but I don’t think I’m at the peak of my career yet.

“I don’t think my body has 100 percent developed into its own. I’ve got many more things to learn in my tennis and many things to build and improve.”

And after handing world number one Justine Henin one of the worst defeats of her career at Melbourne Park, Sharapova warned the reigning French Open champion that she was coming to get her at Roland Garros.

The French Open is now the only the only major to elude the Russian pin-up after her Australian success, but she reached the semi-final for the first time last year and was becoming better-suited to playing on clay.

“The French Open is probably going to be one of the biggest challenges of my career, but I love those challenges,” she said.
“That’s why I play tennis, to go out there in big moments and challenge myself. I think I have a great opportunity to do it.

“I’m doing better and better on clay and I’m starting to feel like I belong out there at times.

“I’m feeling my ground better on the clay and my body’s developing. I’m feeling stronger and physically fitter – I’m able to play longer matches and, I’m better mentally going into the match.

“I know that I can withstand whatever amount of time is required against Justine or whoever.”

A win in Paris would put Sharapova in a elite group of women who have won all four Grand Slams in the Open-era – Margaret Court, Steffi Graf, Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert, Billie Jean King, and Serena Williams.

Dubai title next in sights

Australian Open winner Maria Sharapova will be back in Dubai next month to try and add the 2008 Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships title to her ever-growing list of achievements.

The glamorous Russian’s earnings from Sony Ericsson, Colgate, Gatorade, Canon, Landrover, Nike, Parlux Fragrances, Prince, Samantha Thavasa, TagHeuer and Tropicana easily eclipse her on-court earnings, but it is tennis that is always uppermost in her mind.

Commitments to sponsors as well as tournaments means that free time for her is as precious as gold dust. But late last year she received an opportunity, unwelcome though it was, to lead something like a normal life for a few weeks when she needed to rest a painful shoulder injury.

“I was just able to do things,” she said. “I had a week or two when I had a friend’s birthday somewhere. I could fly and actually see her instead of missing someone’s birthday, or spend time with the people that I love instead of having them fly to me.

“I could actually go and see them and support their careers, as well, and just take that opportunity just to live a normal life. I probably spent a little more money on both of my houses than I would like to, because I had a lot of that free time.

“I wish I could have spent that time on the court, to tell you the truth, but on the other hand it was good to experience the other side of my life as well.”

Now her shoulder is fully healed Maria is once again devoting
all her time to tennis, and she will be one of the top contenders
when play gets underway at the Dubai Tennis Stadium.

New champs look for dubai double

Australian Open champions Novak Djokovic and Maria Sharapova are ready to follow up their Melbourne Grand Slam triumph by adding the 2008 Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships title to their impressive list of achievements.

Djokovic has twice beaten Roger Federer, including a straight sets victory over the title holder in the semi-finals of the Australian Open, and he has high hopes that he can topple the reigning Dubai champion again when they clash at the Dubai Tennis Stadium.
Sharapova is also on a high after claiming her third Grand Slam title, and she is determined to go one stage better than her appearance in the 2006 Dubai final when she fell to Justine Henin.

“I think Dubai is one of the best ATP events,” said Djokovic. “I had an amazing experience last year. I had a lot of support there, and the people there are treating the players as a king, with a lot of respect. They try to make you very comfortable so you feel like you’re at home, and they succeed in that, and I’m really looking forward to getting there.”

Sharapova has won the Australian and US Opens, as well as Wimbledon, but her bid to win the Dubai title two years ago was derailed by a rare rainfall that meant she had to play two matches in one day. Now she’s looking forward to trying again.

“I really love the event,” said Sharapova. “They do an amazing job and I really love going to Dubai.”