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Tuesday, 18 October 2005 |
Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova loves Moscow  Maria
Sharapova said she would always remember her first "real" homecoming
despite a rather disappointing showing at last week's Kremlin Cup held
there.
Maria Sharapova arrived in Moscow confident of winning
the tournament but in the quarterfinals fellow Russian teenager Dinara
Safina upstaged her.
Maria Sharapova returned home on Monday
to rest and get ready for the end-of-season WTA Championships in Los
Angeles, at which she will defend her title.
"This
is my first real visit to Moscow because the last time I was here five
or six years ago I was very young and didn't remember much," explained
Maria Sharapova, who left Russia 11 years ago to pursue her career in
America.
Maria Sharapova visited Moscow's tourist spots,
including the Kremlin and Red Square, went to the circus and did some
shopping at some of the city's expensive boutiques.
Maria
Sharapova also managed to go to a party at the beginning of the $2.3
million tournament where she met some of Russia's pop stars and other
high-profile athletes such as NHL All-Star Pavel Bure.
During
Maria Sharapova's first news conference in Moscow, one reporter asked
her if she was dating any hockey players, alluding to another
well-known U.S.-based Russian, Anna Kournikova, who was married to
Sergei Fedorov and also dated Pavel Bure. Maria Sharapova replied
saying she only knew Russian goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin, whose
daughter also is a tennis player.
Maria Sharapova said she
would love to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin, and she was
invited to Putin's suburban residence last Thursday.
Although
the meeting had to be called off due to an emergency situation in
Russia's Caucasus region, Maria Sharapova said she was hoping to meet
the president next time.
Maria Sharapova received a warm
welcome from the near capacity home crowd in her Kremlin Cup debut
against German Anna-Lena Groenefeld with fans chanting "Masha, Masha".
Although the crowd began cheering for Dinara Safina in her second match at the Kremlin Cup she still enjoyed the experience.
"Well, fans always root for the underdog," Maria Sharapova said after being asked if she was upset at all.
The
only thing the 2004 Wimbledon champion didn't like about her Moscow
visit, aside from the terrible traffic jams, was the surface at the
Olympic sports complex. "The surface here is very dangerous as you can
see from today's match," Maria Sharapova said after Anna-Lena
Groenefeld slipped on the court badly injuring her ankle in their
match. The German player was forced to retire while leading 6-1, 4-2
Maria
Sharapova also confirmed her plans to play for Russia in the Fed Cup.
"I would love to represent my country in Fed Cup in the near future,"
she said
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 19 October 2005 )
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