Maria Sharapova Conference Call Transcript

Written by: Staff on 17th February 2012

Maria Sharapova Conference Call Transcript

Maria Sharapova of Russia celebrates after winning a point against Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic during their women's semi final match in the Australian Open Grand Slam Tennis Tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 26 January 2012. Sharapova won 6-2, 3-6 and 6-4. EPA/JULIAN SMITH |

BNP Paribas Showdown – March 5, 2012

Madison Square Garden

Maria Sharapova Conference Call – 2/17/12 @ 12 noon

Opening Remarks: This is going to be the fifth year of the Showdown at Madison Square Garden and as I realized a couple days ago, we have never had a player in the event who was not either a Grand Slam Champion, a number 1 player or both. It is an honor for us to have Maria join that group, and she has been both. We really pride our self on the group of players that have been through the garden and the whole tie-in with the history of tennis at Madison Square Garden. We think it is going to be an exciting night and I am honored to Maria joining us to play Caroline Wozniacki. So with that Maria, I am going to turn it over to you to answer some questions.

Maria: Hi everyone. Thanks for joining us today. Obviously this is a huge meet to be coming to New York and playing in Madison Square Garden not only because of its history and history of tennis in that area but because it is New York City and when you have the chance to play at the US Open every year there is really nothing like an experience at Madison Square Garden and I think for every athlete around the world, just to be in the stadium but to be performing there is really an honor and I can’t wait for that opportunity.

Q: Have you enjoyed playing in New York throughout your career and do you enjoy the energy that the crowd brings in New York?

Maria: Yeah absolutely. To be honest when I was young and in juniors still and I came to New York it was very overwhelming and it was never really my favorite because I could never understand that crazy energy and then playing in a match and driving through the city with so much going on. Every single year I have kind of really adapted to it and it is by far one of my favorite cities in the whole world and a place I love going to and playing there in Queens but the energy we will experience at Madison Square Garden is going to make quiet different than what we have ever experienced before. That is just something that I am looking forward to.

Q: The BNP Paribas Showdown is part of tennis night in America and we are trying to inspire more kids to play tennis. How much do you hope that some kids might be watching at the Garden that night or watching it on TV seeing yourself and Roger, Andy and Caroline. How much do you hope to help inspire some kids to start playing tennis?

Maria: Oh absolutely. I think as a professional athlete whether we are playing tennis or other sports I think one of our main goals is to encourage those kids to be active and to play sports. I think that is one of the most important things for a five, six, seven year old that is just getting to know what he likes to do and which sport he is playing and I think it is a great opportunity for a young kid is just a great way to see something live and see it in person. Sometimes when you experience a sport on TV it doesn’t necessarily bring out that energy through the screen and the physical aspect and the emotion of how you play and the energy that you put into every stroke and the emotions are gone after points or certain situations. I think it is a unique experience for children and also their parents to see it live and yeah I would love to see as many kids out there as possible.

Q: Maria how do you approach an exhibition mentally as opposed to playing in the Open or a regular tournament, how does it change for you?

Maria: It’s tough because in a way you are thinking this is not a tournament but on the other hand the reason why you are there is because people want to see your tennis and they want to see why you are on the top of one of the woman’s games. But on another hand, it gives the chance for the fans that watched you grow up over the years to see another side and personality on the court as well. I think exhibitions are a really good combination of not just showing the skills of tennis and the way you play but athletes personalities. Yeah, it is also a few days before a new one starts so it is a great warm up in a way.

Q: This being an Olympic year can you give me an assessment of how often you have heard players around the tour talking about the importance of the Olympics and do you get a sense that a lot of the players, playing in that and potentially winning it at least this year might be as important as the Grand Slam?

Maria: Oh absolutely. I think one it is for me because you know growing up the first eight or so years of my life I grew up knowing that, I mean understanding the importance of the Olympics because the Olympics in Russia. You know it was an honor not just to be an Olympian but obviously to have the goal of getting a medal and being part of all the athletes and representing your country and although we do on a daily basis, there is nothing like being part of the Olympics but, I know that tennis isn’t a very popular sport. The only sports I watched was the Olympic sports in figure skating, hockey, gymnastics and those are just so popular in Russia and now you know with tennis being on the map over there and being so popular I think it is just extremely important participating there. I think for me personally growing up in that culture and understanding the values that yeah it really is a dream come true as well.

Q: Just one follow up on that. How do you expect the quality of the tennis to be on both the men’s and woman’s side at the Olympic tournament?

Maria: You also have to consider the scheduling this year. It will also be like the schedule of the Grand Slam for us in a way. It will probably be one of the toughest scheduling years for all of us tennis players because we got, The French Open then a couple weeks off then Wimbledon, a couple weeks off right until the Olympics and then you got the US Open right around the corner. It is going to be very interesting and it is obviously really hard to tell and how health wise where we will be but that will be the most important part of maintaining our level, but also staying really healthy.

Q: There is a bit of a debate raging in US tennis circle about rule changes for 10 and under tennis and you came up very young and the idea is that USTA has endorsed players with smaller court defending the ball. I wonder if you think that, that is an impediment or an advantage for kids that are trying to learn the game?

Maria: I think that it is an advantage from the beginning because it is much easier to have the lighter balls, and much easier to have a smaller court and I think it gives them a better sense of the game in a way. Whereas you are coming onto the tennis courts, for the first time and since it is one-on-one sport it can be quiet over whelming. So for a young player that is trying it out, I think it is a wonderful opportunity but then on the other hand if you do that for a very long time you also have to realize that the reality of the sport this is not how you are going to play if you are thinking about taking it to another level and thinking of progressing into a serious stage of the game. It will also be an adjustment so it’s a very think line because you obviously want to encourage young children to start playing but you also have to understand at a certain point the balls are going to be a little bit heavier and the court is going to be much bigger. So those fun elements that you learned in the beginning will be taken away. It is just a matter of how will they react to that.

Q: When you were coming up and some places in Europe that has been using that system…

Maria: Yeah in England as well I saw a little bit of it in the tournaments in Birmingham during our tournament there was like a young junior event there and you did see the courts a little bit smaller, they made the courts a little smaller and the balls where a lighter flush. I mean I do enjoy a good hit with those balls. When they brought those in we hit them as hard as we can. So that’s a warning out there.

Q: You used the real thing growing up and obviously it has not impeded you at all.

Maria: Yeah I don’t think we had much choice in our time.

Q: Can you talk about how you feel about your game now compared to before your surgery, and do you think you’re a better player in certain areas than you were before?

Maria: Yeah, I’ve never really been the type to compare what it is before to what it is now, it’s very different because you’re at different stages of your career and your life and it’s tough to always look back and think that whatever maybe was good or was not good will be the same today because the game has evolved, you’re a different player you’re a different person and things change. There’s a lot of life lessons and tennis lessons that you go through those years and you start off as a player and you become more experienced and you gain an understanding of what works for you and what doesn’t so taking that into account I believe that in the last year I have taken a step further in a good direction and that has made me quite happy because for years I have felt like I wasn’t really moving forward like I wanted to be and in the last year I felt like I’ve been changing that a bit and going in a direction where I want to be getting good results and being consistent and obviously there’s getting there even further and winning the big ones this is important for me. But yeah as far as the movement and the direction where I see my game has certainly improved in the last year.

Q: Being an Olympic year, have you had time to start thinking about the Olympics and playing in England? Would you consider playing maybe mixed doubles with anyone?

Maria: The Olympics is extremely important and it’s something that I look forward to for a very long time, I was in Beijing 4 years ago so it’s an experience I am very looking forward to and I think all the tennis players are and it will be an extremely difficult schedule this year but for me personally I’m going to be playing two major tournaments on grass so I’m quite excited for it because I love playing at Wimbledon and I think just the fact that it will be at the Wimbledon courts and the Wimbledon stadium and knowing that I’ve made the Olympics – this is not Wimbledon, it will be quite a strange and a different feeling but yeah it’s a very exciting year for all of us.

Q: Mixed doubles, has that been in consideration for you in the Olympics?

Maria: It hasn’t, I have not really discussed that yet, but I haven’t played too much doubles in my career and a lot of my focus always been on singles and that’s the most important thing so it’s tough for me to say that, I don’t think I will be participating in that.

Q: I know you’ve been in town for a while, fashion week and what not, have you heard of “Linsanity?” if you have heard of it, what do you make of this phenomenon?

Maria: (laughs) Yeah, I, you know, I was part of fashion week for a couple of days, and he didn’t quite make it to the fashion world yet, so I didn’t get a chance I was so busy over there with meetings and the shows, but I did see the covers of your papers a few times walking by and you guys are all on top of that, but it’s pretty incredible and I’m sure he’s enjoying all of that. To see a great athlete up and coming especially in NY and Madison Square Garden, I’m sure it’s a lot to write about.

Larry: Maria, thank you so much for taking the time out of your day, it was a great job.

Maria: Thank you, No problem.