Maria Sharapova wants new Players to avoid Media

Maria Sharapova reckons a young player should never pay too much attention to what is being said about her in the media and whom she is getting compared to because that would only put pressure on her.

Sharapova herself faced that situation when she started her professional career. Because of her beauty and her Russian background, people started comparing her to the then superstar Anna Kournikova.

Sharapova has now spent more than a decade on the tour and has made her own identity. Still, at times, in the press conferences, she gets asked about the similarities between her and Kournikova.

Sharapova has, of course, been a far more successful player if compared to Kournikova who could not win even one Grand Slam singles title in her whole career.

Currently, there is another player who has been hyped as a future superstar. She has been tipped to be another Sharapova in the making.

It’s Eugenie Bouchard of Canada who has been labelled like this and Sharapova’s advice to the youngster is just to ignore what’s going on around her and try to stay focussed on the game only.

Sharapova and Bouchard are going to face each other in the Round of 8 in the ongoing Australian Open.

When asked about the comparisons that are being drawn between her and Bouchard, Sharapova said, “That’s nothing new. That happens from time to time. Whenever a good, young player comes up, people start hyping her.”

“Even I went through that in my starting years on the tour. People used to compare me to Anna and they still do so. You have got to understand as a young player that it’s part and parcel of sports. You should ensure that you don’t take these things seriously, otherwise, you would get yourself pressurized.”

No Comments

No comments yet.

RSS feed for comments on this post.

Leave a comment

You must be logged in to post a comment.