MELBOURNE—Maria Sharapova, who notched her 600th career victory with a win over Lauren Davis in the third round of the Australian Open, said she is still having a great time on court.
The five-time Grand Slam champion won her first match in Indian Wells in March of 2002, beating American Brie Rippner in three sets. In the second round, she was belted, 6-0, 6-2, by nine-time major winner Monica Seles.
“I remember that match because I got smoked by Monica after that,” she said with a laugh. “It's a great memory.”
The 28-year-old Sharapova acknowledged that she’s been around for a long time, but maintained that she hasn’t burned out at all.
“There's nothing else that I'd rather do right now than keep doing that,” Sharapova said. “I think if I think about it like, ‘Oh, I've been around the block, I've been to all these tournaments so many times,’ that would seem quite heavy. Not really motivate me much. You always have to find new inspirations and new goals, find things that really get you going in the morning.”
Sharapova will face the young and rising Belinda Bencic in the fourth round. It will be the first match between the two.
In 2015, the Swiss Bencic upset the likes of No. 1 Serena Williams and No. 2 Simona Halep.
“An impressive player,” Sharapova said. “A newer generation that's already established herself in the past season, beaten a lot of top players. It's a tough fourth round. We haven't played against each other before, but I'm sure we'll be playing many times. It's great that we can start here.”