Sharapova Says Wimbledon Title is Her Career Highlight

Written by: Staff on 24th January 2012

Sharapova Says Wimbledon Title is Her Career Highlight |

Maria Sharapova has been ranked number one, and she has won the Australian and US Opens. Yet the highlight of her career remains her stunning victory at Wimbledon in 2004. She even says it is unlikely to be bettered, although winning another major would be huge, given what she has been through with injury.

“I’m fortunate to be sitting in this position and saying that I achieved great success at 17 years old. Obviously maybe if I had achieved it a few years later, I wouldn’t feel like I’ve been on the tour for so long,” she said after reaching the quarter-finals of the Australian Open. “But I’m certainly not complaining because that will probably be the highest note of my career.

“But I’m 24 years old, almost 25. I love this sport as much as I loved it, you know, when I was at that age. Every day I feel like I wake up and I go out, I feel like I can improve, and that makes me feel young. I feel like I still have a lot of energy and desire. Maybe the year before last I was on a steady line, maybe didn’t have that energy and passion, and everything was kind of at a standstill. But I feel like I’ve regained that energy, yeah.”

Why does Wimbledon remain so important to her?

“Because I never had expected that that would come to my career. I was so naïve. I mean, I don’t think at that point, when I had won Wimbledon, I understood what it meant. I thought it was just an incredible feeling, and it’s Wimbledon, but I don’t think I actually logically knew what I had done.

“I’ve also been through a lot of tough times. I’ve also said the success that I can achieve, the fact that I got myself back to being top five in the world, playing tennis again, playing at a high level, competing at this level is pretty remarkable from where I was on a surgery table, not knowing if I’d ever be able to hit a serve again.

“So just a lot of perspective. If I do achieve, you know, a Grand Slam win, something on that level, there’s no doubt that that will be another big moment in my career.”

Topics: Maria Sharapova