Sharapova shoulders the burden of coping with injury
Maria Sharapova could not bear to watch last year's US Open and add
the agony of her absence to the pain of rehabilitating her injured right
shoulder.
"I was in the physical therapy office every single day and the tennis
was on, but I made a point not to watch it," Sharapova said.
"When you're not participating in a tournament that you very much
love and you've had success at as an athlete, to not be there and not be
competing is pretty tough, watching others compete, knowing you're not
in the draw."
But the 22-year-old Russian beauty, a former world number one and
three-time Grand Slam champion who won the 2006 US Open, is back at
Arthur Ashe Stadium this year with her shoulder fit and her eyes on
winning another major crown.
Sharapova, seeded 29th, beat Bulgaria's Tsvetana Pironkova 6-3, 6-0
in a first-round match Tuesday, improving to 23-7 on a season that began
in May and includes hardcourt runs to the Los Angeles semi-finals and
Toronto finals. "I've just been thrilled I can play these matches, beat
these girls that have been playing all year long and had really good
results," Sharapova said.
"With every match I've learned a lot and I've stepped it up. I
certainly feel like I'm cutting down on the errors and getting the
confidence back."
Sharapova returned at Warsaw in May and reached the French Open
quarter-finals but was ousted in the second round at Wimbledon. She had
one tuneup event for each as opposed to the three she has had before the
US Open.
"I've been fortunate I've been able to play as many matches as I
have," she said. "In Toronto I played six matches in seven days. I don't
remember the last time I did that, maybe when I was a junior or
something. Oh that was fun."
Sharapova had had to make adjustments to allow for longer recovery
time in anticipation of a Flushing Meadows fortnight. "It takes me a
little bit longer for my arm to recover after such a long week, which
I'm not used to," she said. "My arms, when I would play really long
matches, that was the last thing that would either bother me or get
sore.
"So that's kind of a little bit of a new stage for me, dealing with
that and really being smart on the practice court.
"I still have to work on my strength and do my program every single
day of last week, but also I want to go out on the court and hit tennis
balls. It's a compromise. It's something that's definitely new in my
career, but that's OK."
Sharapova has changed her service motion to ease the load on her
shoulder.
"By the time I would get to the hitting position, my rotator cuff
would be out of place because I'm so mobile," she said.
"With a shorter motion it doesn't have so much room to move around.
It's a little bit more stable in its socket."
NEW YORK, AFP |