itw d'après match
Q. What are your feelings after that?
MARIA SHARAPOVA: So exciting. Uhm, I don't know. It's amazing. You know, sometimes you just ‑‑ when you're putting the work in it just seems so, so hard, and you never know when that work's gonna pay off. When you're going through tough moments, you never know when you're going to have good moments.
I'm just so thankful that I got this one.
Q. Have you ever had a better serving performance? Losing two points in the second set.
MARIA SHARAPOVA: I don't think today was my best serving performance of the match (sic). I think I served better against Lindsay and Justine.
But I did the things I needed to do in order to win the match. However way I did it, you know, at the end of the day, I won it.
Q. Is it even more satisfying because of what happened in the final here last year?
MARIA SHARAPOVA: No. Just satisfying, period, to win a Grand Slam, and to win one that you've never won before, especially after some of the tough losses that I've had.
Looking back at those, it makes it ‑‑ you know, it makes it a little more special, as well.
Q. What was going through your mind on match point, then when you got it?
MARIA SHARAPOVA: Well, I had a couple before I actually did it, but I was not holding back. You know, I wasn't gonna make her hit an error. I wanted to force ‑‑ I wanted to go for the shot rather than her just giving me the point.
Q. Doesn't happen very often that someone wins a tournament without dropping a set. How does that make you feel? Pretty emphatic?
MARIA SHARAPOVA: Yeah, the feeling is just so weird, because with every match you play, you finish the match and you think, there's one more to go and you've got to concentrate.
Although you just beat a top player, you played really good tennis, you always feel like there's one more to go. And right now there's no more to go, and I just can't feel that yet, you know (smiling). I feel like I still have to get up tomorrow and play another match.
But it will settle in ‑ I hope ‑ really soon. I mean, I don't have a match till next week, so...
Q. You struggled in the past here in the heat. Pretty hot out there today. Was there ever a moment where you felt a bit uncomfortable?
MARIA SHARAPOVA: Not at all. When I was in Singapore a couple weeks ago it was so hot and humid out there. I got to practice there for about three days outdoors. It was great, because when I got out on the court today, I was like, This is a piece of cake. Even though it's hot, it wasn't nearly as hot as it was over there.
You know, just mentally going into the match I didn't really care. Whatever it took, I was just gonna, you know, try to do everything I could to win that match.
Q. Ana thought you were a little nervous in the early part of the first set. Were you?
MARIA SHARAPOVA: On one of the service games, you know, I forced the issue a little bit. We got new balls and I was hitting with the wind, and I think I just went for a little too much on my second serves.
But, you know, I was also two points away from losing that first set and I served my way out of it. She got a little bit tight and also nervous because I think, you know, I was the one that was very close to losing that set.
But I was just steady. I made her hit another ball, and it slipped away from her.
Q. How will you celebrate tonight?
MARIA SHARAPOVA: I don't know. I heard there's a good concert tonight, so maybe I can attend that. I don't know. But I'm just gonna be with my team and enjoy it, have a nice dinner. Tomorrow I'm back on an airplane.
Q. Do you think the experience of winning before gave you the edge today?
MARIA SHARAPOVA: I don't know, because when you're ‑‑ going into the match, I mean, I certainly wasn't thinking about the Grand Slams that I've won before. I was just really concentrated on the current match, on my opponent, on the things I had to do in order to beat her today rather than thinking what I've done in the past.
You know, yes, when I was down Love‑30 on my serve, when she had that opportunity to break me and win that set, I think experience definitely helped me because I didn't get ‑‑ you know, I didn't get impatient. I was just steady. I knew that, you know, it was for her to take. I mean, she's two points away from winning the first set in a Grand Slam final. You know, if you want it, take it. And she didn't.
You know, was that experience? You know, I was just calm. I just did the right things.
Q. Do you sense this matchup with Ana could be a rivalry that will take the game forward for years to come?
MARIA SHARAPOVA: I don't know if it's a rivalry. I think we'll probably have to play a few more times in order for it to become, you know, a rivalry. You know, we're two of the top players. We're both young. We're both 20 years old. I think both of us have great careers ahead of us.
Q. You spoke to your mother, as usual, after the event. Do you think you'll ever manage to encourage her to come to a tournament?
MARIA SHARAPOVA: Maybe. Maybe when it's not a 24‑hour flight.
Q. Is it nerves about flying or nerves about watching you?
MARIA SHARAPOVA: No, no, she's not nervous about flying. It's just too long of a flight to just come out, you know, the day before and watch the final.
Yeah, maybe sometime in my career.
Q. You talk lovingly about your mom's contribution to your childhood and life. How does dad cope with being on the road with you all the time, him being away from your mother but his wife? How does that work?
MARIA SHARAPOVA: Yeah, you know, it's strange because my career obviously, although it's amazing the things it has brought us, there are a lot of downfalls. You know, my parents don't get to see each other very often, especially when I'm at tournaments.
If you play 18 tournaments a year, four of those Grand Slams, three weeks at a Grand Slam, it's a numerous amount of weeks.
But, you know, those are the sacrifices that I and my family, you know, have to make.
Q. Are they able to hold it together?
MARIA SHARAPOVA: Yeah, yeah, thank God they are. Yeah, definitely. Every time we get the opportunity ‑‑ the great thing about my family is that, you know, we're pretty independent people. When it comes to, you know, if I go on a trip that's six weeks long or even eight weeks long, sometimes from the clay to Wimbledon that's what it is. By the fourth week, sometimes someone gets homesick or whatever.
But, you know, we've been through a much tougher process, you know, with not seeing my mom when I was younger. You know, those eight weeks, you know, we don't mind anymore. But it's great that my family is able to be so close and so supportive.
Q. Does dad remember to send the flowers?
MARIA SHARAPOVA: Dad, yeah. He sometimes forgets, but I'm the one to remind him.
Q. Have you received a text message from Billie Jean King to congratulate you, and what did it say?
MARIA SHARAPOVA: I have actually.
Q. What did it say?
MARIA SHARAPOVA: Congratulations. You did great.
Q. On paper at the start of the tournament, you looked like you had a very hard road. Does that make this slam the most satisfying of the three, do you think?
MARIA SHARAPOVA: Well, I think that just proves so many things in regards to, you know, the questions you're asked before the tournament starts, you know, when you're told that you have a tough draw. I mean, I was told that I had a really great draw at the US Open, and I played horrific tennis.
You know, you just have to take it one match at a time. You've got to believe in yourself. This was probably the toughest draw that I've ever had in a Grand Slam, but I'm the champion here. So if I can get a tough draw again and win it, hey, I'd do it any day.