Maria Sharapova: I didn't know nerves existed when I played 2004 Wimbledon
In a press conference, Maria Sharapova was asked if the Sharapova of 2004 Wimbledon would beat the present player. 'It's so tough to say, because when I was playing, say, the finals of Wimbledon I wasn't expecting myself to be in the finals of Wimbledon,' said Sharapova. 'I think what was the most impressive thing about that was that I went into the final and I didn't even know nerves existed. I played as if that was just another match. That was the greatest thing looking back at it. Getting to the finals here last year I really felt like was ready to be in a final of a Grand Slam and I felt like I was ready to win another slam physically and mentally. Whereas, at Wimbledon I was just going match by match and I never seemed to care what people were saying, how things were playing out. I was just winning matches. I was beating top players and doing it, you know, without nerves. That was -- but it's just hard to say.'
I was overwhelmed after I had won the title, definitely. I mean, I've said it many times. It took me a very long while to realize that just because you won a major doesn't mean that you're all of a sudden going to be great. Doesn't mean you're going win every single match. It definitely took a while for me to realize that. I just thought I had everything in my game, and all of a sudden I'm just going to keep winning everything. That's not how things work, even today. No matter how good a player is, that's why we go out and play tennis matches. Everyone has a chance. One of the greatest things about tennis is there's a very thin line between winning and losing. I mean, it is definitely physical and power has definitely stepped it up over the years and everything seems to be faster and quicker, but a lot is mentally and I feel like I have a huge edge on that.'
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