TENNIS WTA MONTREAL – 6th of August 2014. M. Sharapova d. G. Muguruza 4-6, 6-3, 6-1. An interview with Maria Sharapova
Q. It was your first game back for a while now. How did you feel out there?
MARIA SHARAPOVA: Yeah, it’s been a few weeks since I’ve been in that competitive atmosphere. It’s always quite different, no matter how much you train, you try to prepare for that. Once you step on the court, you feel a little bit more from the crowd, the energy. You get inspired by everything. But you’re ultimately a bit rusty. I was just happy that I got through that and won today because I had a very tough opponent.
Q. You switched from grass to hard court. Does it take you a little while to get your game going on hard court?
MARIA SHARAPOVA: Well, the good thing is you have time and you’re not really in a rush. Of course, the season is quite long. There are some periods where you have to make a quick transition. But the hard court season, you know, lasts quite long. To have those weeks is very important because my biggest priority is to stay healthy, not just through this swing of a few weeks, but also till The Championships, push through that, make sure that my body is ready. The upcoming tournaments, there’s no easy opponent, no easy draw. Every tournament is at a very high level. I just want to be prepared for that. So I took the right amount of time for it.
Q. What were you happy about today? What do you need to tweak a bit more?
MARIA SHARAPOVA: I was happy that I was able to turn it around. I didn’t feel good. I made a lot of errors in the first set. You know, when you’re able to finish stronger than your start, that’s always a positive because you give yourself an opportunity to keep playing in the tournament. When you’re in that position, there’s always another chance to work in another match to improve and get better. Yeah, so that’s what I’m happy about.
