What Victory Means to A Champion

“It’s special because you’ve been practicing since you were young. It’s what you dreamed of, what you see on TV, those big trophies. And it’s just a moment. The first thing that comes to mind are all those days that were so hard when you had to push through them…[when] you never knew if you were going to have a chance to hold a trophy. But you did [everything to do it]…and you’re not regretting…It’s a really cool, incredible feeling.”

--Maria Sharapova, who captured the 2011 Italian Open, talking about what winning means to her.  

Sharapova beat Sam Stosur 6-2, 6-4 in the Italian Open final last Sunday for the biggest clay-court title of her career.  This tournament is a key warm-up for the French Open, that begins next week.  Sharapova will now clearly be one of the favorites at Roland Garros in Paris, also a clay court.

After a three-hour rain delay, the seventh-seeded Sharapova won the opening four games, then cruised easily in a total of 1 hour and 23 minutes to follow up her victory over number-one ranked Caroline Wozniacki in the tournament semifinals.  A former No. 1 herself, Sharapova had been struggling to regain her top form since undergoing right shoulder surgery in October 2008 -- which caused her to miss 10 months of tennis.  

Excerpts from InsideTennis.com (May 2011) and ESPN.com (May 15, 2011).

Dinara Safina: Too Much Pressure in French Open Championship Loss

"The pressure I put on myself because I really wanted to win.

"I just didn't handle it. I was a little bit desperate on the court, and didn't do the things that I had to do. I didn't stay tough mentally. I lost myself."

--Dinara Safina, the world's number one ranked women's tennis player, after losing 6-4 6-2 to fellow Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova on Saturday, June 6, 2009.

In a clue as to her pre-match mental mindset Safina had said before the final, "How much proof do I need to give to people that I deserve to be number one?" Safina had been irritated about criticism concerning whether she deserved to be ranked at the top. Perhaps that was where the excessive pressure came from.

Kuznetsova took advantage of the No. 1-ranked Safina's nerves and frequent errors and won the French Open final, a 74-minute match which ended with Safina's seventh double-fault.

"She was too tight. She had so much pressure on her. I just played the match. It was just one more match. ... Definitely it was a lot of emotions inside of me, but I control it."

--Svetlana Kutnetsova, 2004 U.S. Open champion.


So, what has Safina learned having now funished runner-up in the season's opening two majors?

"Not to put so much pressure on myself."

Excerpts from Reuters and Yahoo.com (June 7, 2009)

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