Maria Sharapova is quick to say that she’s not “Queen of Clay” despite the record that she’s had for the past three years. The Russian tennis superstar has just lost three matches on clay in the past three years, all of those matches lost to Serena Williams. Sharapova won back to back titles in Stuttgart and Madrid this year.
“I haven’t thought about myself as the Queen of Clay, but I certainly feel that I’ve improved a lot on this surface,” the 2012 French Open champion said. “I really trained myself to become better because I always struggled on it when I was younger. I realized I had no choice but to try to get stronger, prepare better, recover better and work on those things because they don’t just come automatically.”
Sharapova has been on a 12-month drought title-wise but ended it when she won Stuttgart for the third straight year. She also defeated Simona Halep in the final of the Premier Mandatory Madrid Open.
“It just wasn’t that much fun because I was tall and I never felt very comfortable on it,” Sharapova said of the playing on claycourts. “But I always felt like I learned a lot. I always saw it as a learning experience.”
“I enjoy winning on it more than I enjoy playing on it,” Sharapova said.
“I thought I had a good preparation for it and I just didn’t show up the way I wanted to,” she said. “I was disappointed and I wasn’t happy with that result. I had a few days in between that and Miami to really commit and to work and to keep going for it.”
Update: Maria Sharapova lost her third round match at Italian Open to fellow former French Open titlist Ana Ivanovic.
