In this interview Maria Sharapova talks about how she feels going up against Petra Kvitova in the next semi-final match.

Q.  How do you feel going up against Kvitova in the next match?MARIA SHARAPOVA:  It will certainly be tough.  I’ve lost to her the last couple of times ? obviously the big one in Wimbledon where she played really well.  I think she’s the one to beat right now, playing the best tennis in her career.  Coming off of so many wins last year, I’m looking forward to the matchup.  I don’t like losing so many times in a row.  So I’ll certainly be going out there and trying to play my best.

 Q.  Out of that Wimbledon final, what do you take from that?

MARIA SHARAPOVA:  Yeah, she played quite deep and hard, served extremely well.  The chances that I had, she just came up with better shots in that match.  She was certainly the better player.  Yeah, so I’m looking forward to tomorrow and see how that goes.

 Read the full interview here.

Maria Sharapova bt. S. Lisicki 6 4, 6 3Q. How does it feel to be back in the Wimbledon final?

MARIA SHARAPOVA: It’s a great feeling. It’s been many years, but it’s a really great feeling.

Today wasn’t my best match of The Championships so I was real happy to get through in two sets. But, yeah, it’s pretty amazing to be back on that stage.

Q. Your start wasn’t very good.

MARIA SHARAPOVA: No.

Q. How much confidence does it give you to be able to come back from that? Looking into the final, do you feel like you have one hand on the trophy after coming back so strong?

MARIA SHARAPOVA: Yeah, she started really well. The first three games she played very well, and I did quite the opposite. Uhm, you know, she served a lot better, and I was giving her way too many free points on my serve.

And then, you know, I told myself to take it one point at a time and really focus. You know, I felt like I just kind of got in my zone, you know, just remained focused, and kind of got back to 3 All.

I was fortunate to win that set and then get up a couple of breaks in the second. Read more »

Wimbledon starts today.  But before the WTA stars get into action, they had their traditional pre-tournament party. No Wimbledon whites there. Loved Serena Williams’ and Maria Sharapova’s glamorous looks. Not to disappoint her fans, American pro Bethanie Mattek-Sands arrived in a ball gown, literally. Her dress was comprised of bright florescent tennis balls. You can read more about Maria’s  style here.

(Photos: gettyimages)

Ever wondered how Maria Sharapova is always so competitive? In a recent interview with Reuters, former world number one Sharapova talked about how she stays competitive and what she thinks about her chances in Roland Garros in Paris.

“It is tough to have really good friends on the tour,” she said. “I find it difficult to be having dinner with someone one night and then having to play them two days later because it is at the end of the day an individual sport and we are all very competitive.

It’s typical in sport to try to beat each other. You know we are not on a team and as far as really close friends goes I have my family who come with me on the road. I don’t hang around in the locker room - it’s my least favorite place in the world. I do my job at the site, I play matches do what I have to do and live my world away from the site and don’t talk tennis all day. It’s not in my best interests.” Read more »

Q. You just finished a practice. How are you feeling? NA LI: Feeling? Feeling good. More quiet in here because many players left already. You know, first time to be the final, of course exciting.

But I didn’t have the experience be in final, so I don’t know.

Q. Is it a lot of fun? Are you enjoying the moment or getting very nervous?

NA LI: I enjoy it, yeah. Read more »

An interview with Svetlana Kuznetsova after losing to Francesca Schiavone 6-4, 1-6, 16-14 in the longest (4 hours 44 minutes) grand slam women’s singles match ever played. Kuznetsova had energy to tweet about it: “hey guys thank u for watching and all the support!i m still able to type u a message and to take positive out of this match today! yeah it hurts but ….what eva doesent kill you….. will do better for u))))”.
Q. Did you try to beat the record of Mahut and Isner?

SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA: I tried, but apparently didn’t work. She finish it earlier than I thought.

Q. What do you remember of the six match points that you had? Did you think some of them you could have made it?

SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA: I don’t remember any. I mean, I think she played good on match points. I don’t think I had easy ball any time, she was serving it all the time. It’s hard to say. The match could go either way so many times. I mean, I think it just was really a day of Francesca. We both fighted so hard the whole match, and the important moments she just played better. Read more »

Interview with Justine Henin after losing to Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia 6-4, 7-6 (10) in the third round of the Australian Open.

Q. A bit of a disappointing result. What was the difference between the two of you?

JUSTINE HENIN: Well, of course it’s disappointing to lose like this. She is just been better than me, especially in the important moments. I got some opportunities in the second set to come back, but I never really took the lead in this match. I was really too far. Read more »

Interview with Venus Williams after retiring from her third-round match against Germany’s Andrea Petkovic at Australian Open. This is the first time in her career that Venus Williams retires from a match.

Q. What happened?

VENUS WILLIAMS: Um, I just obviously couldn’t play. I mean, just couldn’t move. Just too painful.

Q. We saw how debilitating it was two days ago when it happened. How has the last 24, 48 hours gone for you? Take us through that.

VENUS WILLIAMS: Yeah, the last 48 hours I did as much pain management and recovery that I could. I just hit some balls at 6:00 just kind of standing still. Just kind of warming up standing still and trying to give my best for the match. Read more »

Interview with Maria Sharapova after her third round victory 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 against German Julia Goerges at Australian Open.

Q. Can I ask you your thoughts on the court when you were hitting up obviously and that delay happened and it looked to be a bubble and it was fairly comical. What were your thoughts?

MARIA SHARAPOVA: Maybe it was comical to you. Wasn’t really comical to us. We warmed up and had to sit and wait for a while. I was the first one to notice it because I went to the umpire for the coin toss and I noticed there was something under my left shoe. I know I have a lot of foam in the heel but I thought they added some padding or something in there. All of a sudden I looked down and there was a pretty big bubble there. I mentioned it to the umpire and she said she would make a call.

Read more »

An Interview With Vera Zvonareva (after she reached her US Open final with a 6-4 6-3 victory over the top seed Caroline Wozniacki. She will meet Kim Clijsters in the final).

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. What was the key to your victory today?

VERA ZVONAREVA: Um, I think it’s the same probably as the previous match, very similar. It’s the right balance between being patient and being aggressive. You know, with those windy conditions you have to play sometimes ugly, you know. You don’t have to expect to play your best tennis. That’s what I did well. I was not expecting to play my best tennis, but, you know, I was trying to be patient when I needed, and step up when I got the chance. Read more »