Maria Sharapova: “I Feel Very Young And Fresh. That Puts A Smile On My Face”

Three-time Grand Slam champion Maria Sharapova is playing good tennis again. The Russian is into the fourth round today against Italian Roberta Vinci at the BNP Parisbas Open at Indian Wells.

Sharapova, who’s seemingly been on the tennis scene since forever, is still only 24 and after suffering a near career-ending shoulder injury a few years ago, she feels great.

“Obviously I have been playing a lot better than the years previously, so that makes me extremely happy,” Sharapova said yesterday after a 63, 64 win over Simona Halep. “I feel very young and fresh. That puts a smile on my face.”

Sharapova also revealed she’s interested in writing a book when all is said and done.

“I personally love to write, so it’s something that I’ve always said since a few years ago,” she said. “I can’t wait to have the time to really put the effort into really writing something about my life. I think there is just a lot of things that maybe my fans and people that have not exactly known about the way I grew up and the way I came to be a player and so‑and‑so. And like my journal entries that I wrote when I was a young kid, I just still have those and I really want them to be one day a part of that. Yeah, it’s something that when I have time I will sit down and just really write.”

Maria is ranked No. 2 this week at Indian Wells, and if she can get back in the Slam winner’s circle a return to No. 1 is very possible. She won Indian Wells in 2006 beating Elena Dementieva in the final.