Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova can’t wait to be back in Tokyo, where she won her first professional title, first WTA titles and this weekend triumphed at the Pan Pacific Open.
But success has caught up with her and it will be at least one year before the skyrocketing Russian starlet is eligible to play again in her favourite city.
”I just seem to bring up my level when I play here, I don’t know what it is, but I’m always determined,” said Sharapova after winning the Pan Pacific Open by beating world number one Lindsay Davenport 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (7/5) on Sunday.
”I’ve such great memories here. When I’m coming back, I feel inspired to win and fans are so amazing to me. They definitely raise my game as well.
”I remember winning my first title when I was 14 years old in Gunma, and here I won a tier-one on the professional tour, so without you [the fans], I wouldn’t have been here. I can’t wait to be back.”
Fresh from her victory in Tokyo, Sharapova was due to make her first appearance at the $585 000 Paris Indoor Open starting on Monday.
Sharapova captured her first career WTA singles and doubles titles at the Japan Open in October 2003 and defended the singles last year. She also won her first professional title in the ITF Circuit series in Gunma, north of Tokyo, in 2002.
However, the 17-year-old’s surge to the top of the world has forced her out of this October’s Japan Open because her ranking is too high.
The WTA rules prohibit the top 20 ”Gold Exempt Players”, who can attract major crowds to a tournament, from taking part in a smaller event when a higher-paying contest is going on the same week.
Sharapova has to put priority on a tier-two event in Germany ($650 000) over the tier-three ($170 000) Japan Open the same week in October — to say nothing about the $140 000 tier-four Korea Open a week earlier, where Sharapova as the inaugural champion pulled in an unusually large audience for tennis in South Korea. This year, a $585 000 tier-two event is going on at the same time in Luxembourg.
The Japan Open organisers have already abandoned the idea of inviting Sharapova to Tokyo in October, while the tennis star has already set her sights higher.
”I always wanted to achieve being number one in the world and I always wanted to win Wimbledon, but it takes hard work,” said Sharapova.
”It’s always tougher to maintain being in the top five in the world than getting into them, just because everybody else is very hungry to be at the same position.
”After winning Wimbledon, I expected everyone to know that I was a top player, that a lot of people wanted to beat me.
”But I love these kinds of challenges in which people really, really want to beat you, and I love beating them, so it’s a nice game,” added Sharapova. — Sapa-AFP