Sharapova reaches a deal over promotional photo shoot - 2008-05-12
Maria Sharapova reached an agreement with the WTA Tour and did a promotional photo shoot before the Italian Open kicked off, .The Russian refused to take part in the four-hour commercial shoot before the tournament, as she considered it a distraction. She said she was threatened with a $300,000 fine if she didn’t do it, and finally the shoot was reduced to 90 minutes. "I was riding around in a car for an hour talking — pretending like I'm talking on the phone," Sharapova said. "The timing compromise was still pretty difficult since it's before a very big event for all of us. Considering the time reduction, it definitely makes that a lot easier than going into a four- or five-hour shoot with hair and makeup, which adds another hour." She concluded, "I already did the talking and now it's time to play tennis." Sharapova will play her first tournament of the season on red clay in Rome.
Sharapova reached the third place in Women’s rating - 2008-04-21
Maria Sharapova has climbed one position in the Women Tennis Association ranking, reaching the thrid place. The Russian moved up one place by reaching last week's quarterfinals in Charleston, U.S., and left her fellow player Svetlana Kuznetsova down to fourth position. Belgium's Justine Henin remains top with 6,105 points, ahead of Serbian Ana Ivanovic.
Sharapova confident about changing surface - 2008-04-08
Maria Sharapova bets on clay. The Russian player will meet Czech qualifier Barbora Zahlavova Strycova at the Bausch & Lomb Championships at Amelia Island in Florida on Tuesday night. Sharapova has confidence about changing the surface, after resting to recover from a shoulder pain. She tells the Associated Press, "I'm actually glad in a way that I get to start early and I get a heads-up on my feel on clay". "Year by year, I feel better on clay. I feel more confident." Last year, the top seed was defeated in the semifinals by Ana Ivanovic, and has been training hard to conquer the red clay at Roland Garros in Paris. She says, "I'll have to use that strength". "Every day that I was working, I was like, 'This is for the French. This is for my third round. This is for my fourth. This is for my quarters.' It's a mental thing."
