Maria Sharapova opened up on the despair she feels in defeat after she was ruthlessly knocked out of the China Open in the third round by Romania’s Simona Halep on Wednesday.
The world number two was an emphatic 6-2, 6-2 winner in 72 minutes to leave five-time Grand Slam champion Sharapova still searching for her first title since returning from a doping ban in April.
The Russian Sharapova, a former number one now languishing at 104 in the world rankings following her 15-month suspension for taking meldonium, gave an insight into the rollercoaster of emotions in top-level tennis. “Hard work is not good enough any more, maybe it was — I don’t know how many years ago — but that’s just not a factor any more,” said the 30-year-old, adding, “The reason I say that is there’s some incredible moments, very high moments, and there are very low moments.”
