Maria Sharapova will play an exhibition event at the Hawaii Open. The Russian player shared that she was really excited to come back there. “Any excuse to come to Hawaii is a really good excuse, but especially when you get to play something that you love and is your profession.
I’ve never played there, I’ve never competed there, so I actually think it will be a really fun experience,” said the five-time Grand Slam winner who usually comes to Hawaii for holidays. “This will really be a work trip for me, and it’s probably one of the most important parts of the season.
It’s right after an off-season where you do a lot of training, and you’re looking to go to Australia (for the Australian Open in January) and be in really good shape. I grew up always being by the water—my childhood on the black sand of Sochi, and then I spent my early years and teenage years in Florida, so I was on the Gulf of Mexico, and then in California.
I’ve always preferred to be in a warm environment with a beautiful humid climate, even though the summers are sometimes brutal, but I much prefer it to the winters. “On my last trip, we took drives along the lava rocks and we had this beautiful meal overlooking some of the lava flows— experiences have been, having not been there that many times, really memorable”.
Sharapova did not have a memorable experience on the Tour in 2019 as recurring injuries forced her performances to go awry.
