[FotoCihasWewb]

Excerpt from article:

Had she ever doubted her chances of coming back? "I never lost faith because I knew the things I had already accomplished were way beyond what I ever dreamt of in my life," she said. "To have that in my pocket already and to look forward to getting back and playing and doing what I love was a challenge, but I had a great team around me that kept me really positive.

"By no means was it easy. I definitely had ups and downs. I had days where I had to push myself more than I've ever had to, mentally rather than physically. It all pays off. Obviously just getting to be able to play tennis again is an achievement in itself. Now it's about preparing myself, forgetting about what I went through, just preparing my game, getting back into the form where I was, and even better."

Despite losing to Gisela Dulko in the second round at Wimbledon, Sharapova said she had been delighted with her return. "I was obviously a little bit disappointed with Wimbledon, but I was really happy with the way my arm held up," she said.

"Coming off shoulder surgery I was trying to prepare my arm for the season. It got up to speed, but then I was playing catch-up in the tennis department. I only had a maximum of five weeks of training before the clay courts. After such a long lay-off, it wasn't enough for me. Even though I pulled through some tough matches at the French Open, physically I didn't have it."

Sharapova said her shoulder now feels "really good". She added: "After Wimbledon I went back to Phoenix and I kept working on it. It's not something that you just stop when it feels good. You have to keep working on it. You have to keep getting it stronger. For the rest of my career I'll be doing shoulder exercises. It won't be as fun as I want it to be. It's all a routine. But everyone has injuries. It's part of the game. If you want to be back out there, you've got to work hard."

The former world No 1 has had to rebuild her serve. "After surgery I definitely had to shorten up my motion to make it easier on my arm," she said. "That's something that I'm still working on and still tuning up. Is it where I want it to be? I still think that I have work to do. But I think it's going to come along. Like I said, there's nothing that hard work can't achieve."

She added: "There's no better way to get into shape as a tennis player than playing tennis. I can do all the running or Pilates I want, work myself until I'm blue in the face, but when you go on court for the first time after months on end, your body isn't used to the whole thing. Now it's a matter of forgetting what I went through and getting on court and trying to do the right thing over and over. These tournaments are going to be crucial."

Full article: http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/t...n-1763188.html

[FotoCihasWewb]

I never knew Maria was a philatelist. You learn something new every day.

[Flatlytaize]

I never knew Maria was a philatelist. You learn something new every day.

Do you have Tennis Channel? They show an old doc of her all the time with clips from when she looks to be around 12-13 showing off her collection.

[alexosnasos2]

Oh Maria!! I wish you...NOTHING!!! You get what you deserve! Karma is a B***h!

[Xewksghy]

Very nice article Moose. Thanks for posting!