Maria Sharapova. PACIFIC LIFE OPEN. March 18, 2008

INDIAN WELLS, CALIFORNIA (Indian Wells Tennis Tournament: BNP Paribas Open Tennis Tournament - Formerly Pacific Life Open)

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. That was quite an escape there?
MARIA SHARAPOVA: Uh-huh. Yeah, it was. You know, I felt like I was up throughout the match, and I just did a solid job of winning that first set and had so many opportunities in the second set to finish it off.

I was up a couple of breaks and just couldn't. She started playing really good tennis towards the end of that second set, and I just couldn't get my opportunities back, couldn't get those chances that I had in the beginning of the second set.
And in the fourth game, it was just a dog fight. I felt like I was pretty close to being down and out, because I wasn't able to produce, you know, good points for a long period of time. I was like a little kid that would make -- I was doing like a beaded bracelet. I would put four beads together and they would all fall down and then I'd start all over again.
I felt like I was starting from scratch all the time. I would play a good game, I would get down again and then I would miss three returns in a row. I was just giving her so many opportunities out there.

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