Green is good for Sharapova

Maria Sharapova has said a not so fond farewell to the Paris clay and is heading for the green pastures of Wimbledon that she so likes. The Russian glamour girl was sent packing from the French Open at the quarter-final stage on Tuesday getting a lesson in claycourt tennis from one of the best exponents currently playing, Justine Henin-Hardenne. And even though she did make the last eight for the second straight year, the only player to do so, the 18-year-old admits she still has a lot to learn on the slow ocre surface.
Wimbledon is a different matter altogether.
Sharapova took the centre court by storm last year when she became the second youngest Wimbledon winner in the Open era behind Martina Hingis and she can't wait to get back into action.
"I'm going to have so many great memories again and just to be back on grass and playing where I feel really, really comfortable," she said. "I'm really excited to be going back."
Her preparations for Wimbledon will be similar to last year when she won the grass-court build-up tournament in Birmingham before taking a week off immediately prior to the tournament to put in some practice.
But she says that she does not have any great problems in making the transition from clay to grass.
"I just hit on grass a few times and I feel good," she said by way of explanation. "It's a lot faster and I just feel more comfortable on it"
One thing that will have changed, however, is that she will come to London equipped with her own mobile phone.
Last year immediately after upsetting favourite Serena Williams in the final, she had to frantically borrow a mobile phone to call her mother back in Russia and then struggled to get a signal from the centre court.
"I'm prepared now. I've got my phone," she said. "I don't know about the service on Centre Court, but I hope that Motorola has talked with Wimbledon and I hope maybe the servce is good."
Sharapova gave a further insight into how she tackles the pressures of Grand Slam tennis - by reading children's books, particularly those concerning the adventures of pigtailed Pippi Longstocking.