TOKYO — Maria Sharapova says she is getting back to her best and enjoying herself after a long injury lay-off that forced her out of top 10 for the first time since July 2004.
"As far as being back onto the court and playing tennis and hitting a tennis ball with a tennis racket, I say, I went out of the tunnel," said Sharapova after regaining the Pan Pacific Open title on Saturday that she last won in 2005.
"Because that was taken away from me for a long period of time. It's a big part of your life and it was taken away.
"It's a strange feeling, but you've got to do everything you can to get out of the situation, to be back in life, enjoy what you love. I'm back on the court, I'm playing again, I'm competing," said the Russian.
In October last year, Sharapova had an operation on her right shoulder and then pulled out of the Australian Open in January with the same injury. She only returned to action in May.
On Saturday in the final against Jelena Jankovic of Serbia, Sharapova found herself 0-40 down in the opening game, which she lost two points later, hitting a backhanded drop shot wide.
She then went 0-2 down before moving into top gear, hitting an array of power-packed strokes and aggressive service returns to take the following four games in a row.
Jankovic, who needed court-side treatment to her right arm in the semi-finals on Friday, took a medical time-out for the same injury at the beginning of the eighth game.
But Jankovic abandoned the match when she went down love-30.
It was Sharapova's fourth title in Tokyo out of her 20 singles titles worldwide. Tokyo is the place where she captured her first WTA singles and doubles titles at the 2003 Japan Open on the same centre court here.
"I just have really good memories from playing on this court. It was a different tournament, but the same arena. It's very exciting. This is a place very close to my heart and I always want to come back," said Sharapova.
The 22-year-old Russian, the winner of the 2004 Wimbledon, the 2006 US Open and the 2008 Australian Open, is already looking forward to the next season in which she believes she can do better than before.
"I have one more tournament left in Beijing. During the off-season, I'll be training and working on my game. It's going to be really a good time for me to create a good base," said Sharapova.
"Actually I have a good enough time to prepare for the next year. I'm really looking forward to the period.
"Certainly I worked hard to play tennis. That's what I tried, because I know I can be better, making it better than I've done before. And the fact that I'm back and that I'm hungry, that's something I proved," she added.
