ИУ: Пресс-конференция Марии 15.03.2013

Выставил оригинальный текст пресс-конференции Марии после полуфинала

March 15, 2013

Maria Sharapova

INDIAN WELLS, CALIFORNIA

M. SHARAPOVA/M. Kirilenko 6‑4, 6‑3

THE MODERATOR:  Questions, please.

Q.  High quality match.  Played pretty well for the most part, don't you think?

MARIA SHARAPOVA:  Yeah.  I think I made the first set a bit more difficult than it should have been.  You know, I felt like it could have been up 4‑0.And she's someone who has had a few comebacks in this tournament and really good results.  I think this is her best tournament yet.So, yeah, I stepped it up in the second set, you know.  First set was a little shady; second set was much better.

Q.  You want to talk about playing Caroline?  Played her Miami last year.

MARIA SHARAPOVA:  It's been a while.

Q.  You had a tough one against her a couple years ago, but things have changed a lot since then.

MARIA SHARAPOVA:  Yeah, I mean, she's always a tough opponent.  You know, she's a grinder.  She makes you work really hard on the court and gets a lot of balls back, you know, and has a lot of different variety.You know, I certainly don't want to give her that time or those opportunities, because she's a really good player.

Q.  How much does it help having played through this tournament against a lot of other grinders?  I mean, you haven't had a lot of players giving you cheap points.

MARIA SHARAPOVA:  Yeah.  Yeah, I have had to work for, you know, for all the points here, that's for sure.I also feel like, you know, in a way, in a couple of those matches I made my life a little more difficult than I should have been.  I was forcing a few of my errors.Today I was happy that, you know, I did a few things much better than I had to.  I really had to step it up today.

Q.  One of the things that Caroline had today was a lot of high balls, moon ball shots that were pushing...

MARIA SHARAPOVA:  Yeah, I saw some of those points.  That was quite interesting.

Q.  What were your thoughts when that was going on?  It was like two‑minute‑long points.

MARIA SHARAPOVA:  Yeah, it was interesting shot selection.  I don't know.  You're not there, so when you're watching TV it seemed a little odd from the TV, but I'm sure there was a reason why during the point that was done.But they looked like they were really high and they all kept going in.  I was like, that's a really good effort.  I don't think I can do that.

Q.  When you've played against those kind of shots before, how do you make adjustments to try to deal with it?

MARIA SHARAPOVA:  Usually when your opponent has time to hit higher balls or a little bit of spin, that means it's your‑‑ I think you're giving them a bit more time to do that.I mean, I hope that against Caroline ‑‑ she's dangerous when she has the opportunities to open up court and she wants you running side to side.

Q.  Have you ever hit a moon ball and charged to the net like she was doing?

MARIA SHARAPOVA:  I didn't see that one.

Q.  Yeah, she did a couple of those.

MARIA SHARAPOVA:  No.  Well, I mean, first of all, I don't charge to the net many times.

Q.  No, you don't.

MARIA SHARAPOVA:  So let's start with that.  And then charge to the net with a high ball.  Oh, chances are pretty low.

Q.  Do you remember any match from the juniors when someone was consistently moon balling you all match long?

MARIA SHARAPOVA:  Yeah, I played a lot.  There are a lot of in the juniors, yeah.  There are a lot of them.But, yeah, I don't see any of them now, you know.  So, I mean, it's going to be a long day if you're doing that for a long period of time, you know.I mean, it's not a good mentality to have, when you're a junior especially.  You're kind of waiting for your opponents to make mistakes.  You're not the one that's forcing the play and making it.I feel like.  But what am I?  I'm not a coach or anything.

Q.  Have you ever hit a moon ball?

MARIA SHARAPOVA:  I'm sure I have, yeah.  I mean, a moon ball, yeah, but I haven't charged to the net after a moon ball.  (Laughter.)

Q.Is it important for you to be No. 2?

MARIA SHARAPOVA:  Am I?

Q.  You'll be NO. 2 as of Monday.

MARIA SHARAPOVA:  Okay.  Great.  Yeah, it's nice.  It's better than 3, right?

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