26 сентября 2014, 19:49 3 мин.

Sharapova focusing on first step to China Open finals

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By Daniel Shapiro

　　On her plane to Beijing from the Wuhan Open, Maria Sharapova saw a man in front of her reading a newspaper article about her. Sharapova took a photo of the fan and tweeted it with the caption “Hey buddy, I'm right behind you... ”.

　　The photo quickly went viral and left many wondering if Sharapova spoke to the man after taking the photo.

　　“I don’t think we’d find very similar words,” Sharapova said in reference to a possible language barrier.

　　The photo, taken from economy class seats, also left a number of fans on Twitter questioning why someone of Sharapova’s status would fly economy class on a plane. Her reason: she wanted to get the first possible flight to Beijing, so economy was her only option.

　　In Beijing today, Sharapova said she needs to have a short-term memory so that her third-round loss in Wuhan does not affect her performance at the China Open.

　　“It’s definitely not the result that I had wanted,” Sharapova said. “I know I played a good second and third set againstSvetlana Kuznetsova but wasn’t able to bring that level against (TimeaBacsinszky).”

　　She has historically performed well in Beijing, making it all the way to the 2012 finals before losing to current No. 18 Victoria Azarenka. Sharapova then sat out of the 2013 edition of the China Open with shoulder bursitis. When asked what she would do differently this year to win the open, Sharapova did not look too far ahead.

　　“It’s five long steps until (the final)，” Sharapova said. “The focus is always the first one, as boring as that answer is. It’s always important to focus on what’s ahead of you and that will be my next opponent.”

　　Sharapova has also been performing better on clay courts in recent years, with nine of her past 11 victories, including the 2014 French Open, coming on clay. Despite this, the hard courts of the China Open don’t worry Sharapova.

　　“I’ve always enjoyed playing on this court and I’ve had very consistently good, good results here,” Sharapova said.

　　Sharapova’s main goal this year has been to stay healthy after missing the last few months of the 2013 season. She said that in a year that has seen her play in plenty of three-set, physical matches she is proud of how her body has held up.

　　“To be able to win a lot of them is something I don’t think I would have been able to do a few years ago,” Sharapova said. “I think that’s been a proud moment for me because that has always been a weaker part of my game, the physical side of it.”

　　Two years ago at the China Open Sharapova was about to launch her candy company, Sugarpova. Today the company is in 30 different countries, in numerous minibars, high-end hotels, fashion boutiques and large-market stores. She also said that the local Chinese market is one of the candy company’s best.

　　The No. 4 ranked Sharapova will take on No. 46 Kaia Kanepi in the first round on Saturday. The two have played three times before, with Sharapova winning each match, including a three-set match in Brisbane earlier this year.

http://www.chinaopen.com.cn/en/news/2014-09-26/1243631.shtml