Persistent Sharapova climbs the summit
Source: Agencies |
June 11, 2012, Monday
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ON the days when her doctors argued over what was wrong and her right shoulder hurt each time she reared back to serve, Maria Sharapova used to ask herself a question. When is this going to end?
One thing she never questioned was how much she loved tennis.
A three-year comeback that began from the depths of a hard-to-diagnose shoulder injury reached a high point on Saturday, when Sharapova walked out of Roland Garros as the French Open champion.
The Russian completed the career grand slam with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Italy's Sara Errani and picked up the last piece of that puzzle on the red clay, the surface she once said made her feel like "a cow on ice."
This, she said, plus the No. 1 ranking she picked up this week, are the ultimate rewards for fighting through 10 months of rehabilitation, for setting aside the doubts, for finally finding a plan that worked after so many didn't. For sticking with the sport she's been playing for almost as long as she could walk.
"I love my work. I love playing tennis," Sharapova said. "I've had so many outs and I could have said, 'I don't need this. I have money; I have fame; I have victories; I have grand slams'."
She slowly climbed from the depths of the rankings - from as low as 126 - to No. 1. It is her first turn at the top spot since June 2008. Sharapova became the 10th player to complete the career grand slam, putting her in rarefied air alongside Billie Jean King, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova and Serena Williams, to name a few.
One thing she never questioned was how much she loved tennis.
A three-year comeback that began from the depths of a hard-to-diagnose shoulder injury reached a high point on Saturday, when Sharapova walked out of Roland Garros as the French Open champion.
The Russian completed the career grand slam with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Italy's Sara Errani and picked up the last piece of that puzzle on the red clay, the surface she once said made her feel like "a cow on ice."
This, she said, plus the No. 1 ranking she picked up this week, are the ultimate rewards for fighting through 10 months of rehabilitation, for setting aside the doubts, for finally finding a plan that worked after so many didn't. For sticking with the sport she's been playing for almost as long as she could walk.
"I love my work. I love playing tennis," Sharapova said. "I've had so many outs and I could have said, 'I don't need this. I have money; I have fame; I have victories; I have grand slams'."
She slowly climbed from the depths of the rankings - from as low as 126 - to No. 1. It is her first turn at the top spot since June 2008. Sharapova became the 10th player to complete the career grand slam, putting her in rarefied air alongside Billie Jean King, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova and Serena Williams, to name a few.
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