Maria Sharapova will be bidding to end her season on a high note at the WTA Finals after a turbulent 2015 where she has spent a lengthy period away from the tour due to injury.
The world No.3 hasn’t played a full match since Wimbledon after sustaining a shoulder injury followed by a forearm injury during her opening match at the Wuhan Open in September. Despite the recent injury troubles, Sharapova recently confirmed that she is fully healthy for her eighth WTA end of the year finals tournament. After these troubles, the Russian admitted that she is more focused on being healthy than who she plays in her final WTA tournament of the season.
“If I can stay healthy and work my way through the matches no matter who I’m playing, in this particular situation, I have to worry about myself a little bit more than who I’m playing against”. She said.
Sharapova has been drawn in the Red Group along with Simona Halep, Flavia Pennetta and Agnieszka Radwanska. She currently has a winning head-to-head against Radwanska and top seed Halep, however, she trails US Open champion Pennetta 2-3. Statistically Sharapova is expected to qualify for the semifinal stage, however there is uncertainty regarding her match fitness after playing in one match since July. Acknowledging this factor, the 28-year-old described her presence in this year’s WTA Finals as ‘a big step’ for her this season.
“It’s a big step for me to be here and feel that I am healthy. It will be a bigger step that I’ll be able to compete in those three matches and finish them off healthy. That’s my goal. Everything else I just have to take the positives out of because I feel I’ve committed myself to being here and done everything possible”.
Refusing to set a date as to when she will hang up her racket, Sharapova said that she ‘has more to produce’. The five-time Grand Slam champion confirmed that her main focus remains on tennis as she isn’t ready to start thinking about getting married or having children.
It has been 11 years since Sharapova won her first and only WTA Finals title in Los Angeles. Despite playing on the tour for over ten years, the Russian still feels that she has many years left in her tour as long as her body holds up. She cites her passion for tennis as that reason why she keeps playing.
“I really love playing tennis. There’s nothing else that really gives me that feeling and that competitiveness and the thrill, the emotion that I get on the court. As long as I will experience that, I will always believe that I have the motivation to become better”. She told the press conference in Singapore.
Sharapova will play her first match in the tournament on Sunday against Radwanska. The encounter will be her 15th match against Radwanska on the tour. The World No.3 lead the head-to-head 14-2, the last time Sharapova lost to Radwanska was in 2012 at the WTA Miami Open.
