NASDAQ-100 OPEN

March 31, 2005

Maria Sharapova

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

MARIA SHARAPOVA: Well, I'll just say that I thought I played really well. I was in control for most of the match, and I was serving really well, and I was getting a lot of advantage from them, and I was able to break her in the first set when she tried to hold her serve at 5-4. I think she was making a lot of errors from her forehand side, which gave me the confidence of knowing that even when I'm in trouble, you know, one way or another I thought that she might make an error. You know, I was really positive, even when she started to try to fight back and try to run and get everything back. I was just trying to fight out there, knowing that I, you know, I wanted to do my best and just fight till the end.

MARIA SHARAPOVA: I don't really have one (laughing). It's pretty boring. I don't -- I'm just happy to be, you know, out on center court, thanking God that I can have this opportunity I guess, I don't know. I mean, there's nothing in particular that I think about.

MARIA SHARAPOVA: No, I just worry about that when I'm on the court.

MARIA SHARAPOVA: Well, I don't know. When you're dictating, I guess the person's going to always be on the run. You know, I was able, I was able to hit the first ball. It's either you or her that's going to start dictating. She's not going to give back and she's not going to let you get in a game. I knew that from the first ball I had to take advantage of it, you know. If I was going to hit down the middle of the court, you know, an easy shot, she's not the kind of girl that's gonna give it to me.

MARIA SHARAPOVA: It didn't really matter to me. I'm just happy to be in the final.

MARIA SHARAPOVA: You mean schedule-wise?

MARIA SHARAPOVA: Right now I'm planning to play Berlin and Rome.

MARIA SHARAPOVA: No.

MARIA SHARAPOVA: You know, tennis is a game which is very -- it's actually very hard to explain because I'll give you a good example of what happened in Indian Wells, is the day before I played Lindsay I played against Mary Pierce. I thought I played great tennis. The next day, I come out, I was serving really well, I was returning really well, I was doing everything well except I wake up and I play against Lindsay and basically I go down the drain. So this is just tennis. You wake up, you either step on your right foot or your left, and, you know, hopefully you step on your right.

MARIA SHARAPOVA: There's not much to say. I mean, I don't know. You know, it was a long time ago to me. I just -- I'm just worried about being here right now.

MARIA SHARAPOVA: I haven't played Amelie before. I played Kim once a long time ago, before her injury, obviously. You know, just I'm sure it's going to be great tennis with whoever I play. It's going to be a tough match either way. I feel that I've been improving with every single match that I've been playing, and I feel like I'm in pretty good shape. I'm, you know, I'm happy to be here. I'm happy to be in the final. Doesn't really matter to me who I play.

MARIA SHARAPOVA: Well, I think, you know, it's quite incredible, after being out for so long, you know, and almost not to be able to play tennis again in your life, you know, is a scary thought, and a lot of respect to her for being able to fight back and to stay positive and, you know, to win a title last week. She says -- she has such a great personality. To see her back is great.

MARIA SHARAPOVA: Who else would I be playing for?

MARIA SHARAPOVA: Yeah, that's definitely in the past.

MARIA SHARAPOVA: Well, it's hard for an opponent to talk good about, you know, who you're playing. But I think she's got a lot of fighting spirit out there. She just fights till the end. She really wants it bad. You know when you play her, you know it's not going to be an easy match. She has a big serve, which is one of her biggest weapons; a great backhand; and she's fast. There's not too many weaknesses in her game, you know. But it's just a matter of going out there and trying to win, and trying to fight, no matter how good she is.

MARIA SHARAPOVA: I was. It was, I thought, the best game in the match. You know, being Love-40 down is not the best situation you can be at when you're up 5-3 serving for it. So, you know, I didn't want to be -- I didn't want it to become 5-4 and then all of a sudden I'm not up in the match again. It's a whole new battle out there. So I guess I just -- I was very proud of myself for being able to win that game. It was a tough one.

MARIA SHARAPOVA: Well, I usually tell them on the spot if I'm really pissed or I'm really tired, I'll just tell them to get out (laughing). No, you know, I have a pretty well-based schedule. I think -- it's a calendar with, you know, with all the days of the week and, you know, you have to sort of place, you know, where you're going to play tennis and where you have time for your sponsors, and then there's off time, which is probably only ten days of the year. But there's a whole team behind it - obviously, me, my parents, my manager, and a lot of people involved with trying to figure out what's best. And of course tennis, tennis is always the top priority on that schedule.

MARIA SHARAPOVA: When, today?

MARIA SHARAPOVA: Same as a walk with any other player. I mean, I'd have the same mentality in my mind that, you know, I wanted to beat them no matter who it was on the other side. I knew that it's not going to be easy to get that, but I was going to do everything I was capable of doing to win.

MARIA SHARAPOVA: No.

MARIA SHARAPOVA: Well, I think it's an individual's decision. It's either you want tennis to be your No. 1 priority and, you know, you set the other things on the side, or you prefer doing other things than playing tennis. But, I mean, there's also a lot to it that can be mental with saying that, you know, you have many interests, but you're still playing tennis and you're kicking everyone's butt so...

MARIA SHARAPOVA: I think the one with Serena was a lot -- the first day was a lot tougher to get through because you're so close to being in another Grand Slam final. But I shook it off really fast. Against Lindsay, I just -- I forgot about it right after that. It was no point in talking about it because there's really nothing to talk or think about.

MARIA SHARAPOVA: Uh-uh.

MARIA SHARAPOVA: I've always been really, really happy on the court. You know, when I'm on the court, everything around me goes away. All my worries, all my things that I do off the court, those things go away. I don't think about what I did five minutes ago when I was off the court. I think that's what really motivates me, is when I have five days off and I'm doing shoots or I'm doing whatever I am for my sponsors, and I'm really hungry to get back on the court, because that's where I feel, "That's what I do, this is my job, and I love doing it." So, I mean, everybody's different, and I respect that, but I've always felt really anxious and really hungry to get on the court after being, you know, off it for so long. I take it as just a job that I really, really enjoy. It comes naturally. If I was forcing myself to be on the tennis court, then obviously it wouldn't be my No. 1 priority. But at this point it is.

MARIA SHARAPOVA: No, I don't have a Chihuahua yet, but I have my cell phone, and I have my iPod and...

MARIA SHARAPOVA: (Laughing). John Grisham (holding up a book), and I have sunscreen if anyone needs some, and I have a Sharpie (laughing). No dog, but maybe soon (laughing).