TENNIS US OPEN – 29th of August 2014. M. Sharapova d. S. Lisicki 6-2, 6-4. An interview with Maria Sharapova
Q. Seemed like your serve wasn’t there for a while.
MARIA SHARAPOVA: Yeah, it wasn’t. But it felt like I needed to compensate with other parts of my game, and I think I did a good job of that. Because she’s a very dangerous and tricky opponent, and she’s capable of playing really well at the slams and always raising her level against the top players. That was something I was very well aware of. I thought I stepped up to the challenge.
Q. It was a pretty intense match tonight. Both of you were fighting a lot. What do you think made the difference?
MARIA SHARAPOVA: Well, against a big server and an aggressive player like her, it’s sometimes just a matter of a few points. Return is obviously very important. I thought I did a good job of getting some of her good serves back and making her hit an extra ball. Of course, it’s always tense because she’s capable of playing really good tennis. In the end I was just happy I was able to break her back in that game.
Q. What did you make of the back and forth between her and the chair umpire over whether she was getting coaching help?
MARIA SHARAPOVA: I actually had no idea what the talk was about.
Q. Do you think coaching should be allowed at Grand Slam tournaments?
MARIA SHARAPOVA: I’m happy with the way it is right now.
Q. So many upsets so far. Does that have any impact on you when you see other top players going out early?
MARIA SHARAPOVA: Quite honestly, I have to follow my own path. Of course, you know, I’m not someone that doesn’t look at the draw. I usually follow the draw. I enjoy watching matches occasionally when I have some time, some free time. I did see some of the results. Of course, that’s why we always play the matches. You always have favorites going into the tournament. The reason there’s so many players is because we have to go out and win those matches and compete. There’s a reason everybody puts the net up in the morning. It’s for us to go out and challenge ourselves. There have been a few upsets, and certainly happy that I got through today.
