Q. You're someone who has won when you're at a very young age. We are seeing now some of the  players breaking through at a young age who aren't really able to back it up. Can you just talk  page 1 of 2  about how difficult it is to win early and set the bar so early for yourself and try to keep it up?

MARIA SHARAPOVA: Can I ask who you're speaking about?

Q. Genie, as an example.

MARIA SHARAPOVA: I mean, I think, to be in a  position where you have done extremely well and  you've gotten really good results, you know, you've proven you belong to the top, sometimes it takes a little while. I had a very, you know, a tough  experience winning -- I mean, of course I won when I was 17 years old, and all of a sudden, I thought I  should be able to win every single match. It took me a while to realize that that's just not the reality of things. For me, the most important thing was nothing to do with tennis, because I know that I was still  developing my game, but it was rather to do with the  people I surrounded myself with that were able to  make smart decisions for me. Because at that age it's tough. You know, you have so many opportunities  and they are so fun, especially at a young age, to be  part of great events and meet stars and, you know, to be part of, you know, a Vogue photo shoot, those are
really cool things for a young girl, and I did enjoy  them. But I think at the end of it all, the things that got  me to that position was winning tennis matches, and that's what I still love to do and I know that without that I wouldn't get opportunities to be on the cover of magazines. So that was always my dream and my goal, and I had the right people around me to, I  guess, you know, make sure that I kept my goals straight.