Maria Sharapova has signed an exclusive deal with Mobile Phone Games company I-play, according to www.gamesindutry.biz & www.mariaworld.net

"Tennis is a sport that everyone should be able to enjoy across any format, and by using my name in a mobile gaming context, I hope that tennis fans will be able to share my passion, whatever the weather or conditions of play," said Sharapova.

"As part of our drive to create mobile games for everyone, we are very pleased to bring an athlete of huge, global appeal like Maria Sharapova to mobile gaming. The game will be simple to play but difficult to master, just like tennis itself, and we are very much looking forward to working with our distribution partners as well as other Maria Sharapova marketing partners to bring it to as wide an audience as possible," said Paul Maglione, Senior Vice President of Publishing and Marketing for I-play.

"I'm really excited," Sharapova said. "It's definitely not going to be an easy match. But I feel I know what I need to do and hopefully I'll go out there and play as well as I did today."

Sharapova will now face Lindsey Davenport, the worlds number one, in the Semi Finals after she defeated Nathalie Dechy of France 7-6 6-0. The other semi final will see Elena Dementieva play Kim Clijsters

Maria had a match point in the third set at 5-2 after taking the second 6-2 and she was beaten down her rigth hand side by a energetic Zuluaga and Maria had three more match points later in the game and losr them all including a 40-0 lead which Zuluaga cam back from.

The Colombian, seeded at number 19 before the tournament began came into the match with vicotories over Maria Sanchez Lorenzo

"When you're not playing your best tennis, those are the matches where you finish, win or lose.

 "But it's good to get through them, because I feel whenever I don't play that well, then the next day I come out and I do better and better." said the Russian

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Maria.

Q. How were the conditions?

MARIA SHARAPOVA: Not too good for tennis today. You know, I guess it's Mother Nature. You can't really do too much about it. But it was very unexpected because in practice it wasn't that bad. But when you got on the court, on the stadium, it wasn't like it was it was one direction. It was moving around.

You know, I guess I just had to hold on. The first three games were pretty ugly. You know, it's just a matter of getting used to the conditions.

Q. What's the most difficult part of playing through wind like that?

MARIA SHARAPOVA: I think when you're playing -- when you feel confident, when you're playing good tennis, all of a sudden you come out, and these conditions are there. You don't know what to expect because you know you're playing well, but these conditions don't make you play well. You start trying to do something different, you might start making errors.

Q. Could you feel how well you were playing? Do you like how you're hitting the ball?

MARIA SHARAPOVA: Yeah. I think I was consistent. The first three games are a big exception, because that was not very pretty. But after I thought that, you know, when the points went a little bit longer, when the wind died down, I thought it was more consistent. I was able to hit one more ball in.

Q. She's been playing pretty well the last month. That has to be somewhat satisfying. You might have expected a big challenge on court.

MARIA SHARAPOVA: Yeah, I was definitely expecting a challenging match. And I think it was because when you go out and you're in these conditions, even though you feel that you're playing good, you just never know what can happen because of the conditions and the wind and the swirling.

Q. Your on-court interview, they mentioned this was your breakthrough tournament. Can you relate to Kirilenko, Linetskaya, you've been in that spot?

MARIA SHARAPOVA: Yeah, I just remember it was my first sort of big tournament I played. I got a wildcard. I won in the first round. I played MonicaSeles, which at that time, I don't know, she was the top player. Just the memories. I lost 1-0 but I thought I played so good. "There's something wrong here."

You know, you look back and think, even though you lost so easy, you know, you improved the things that you needed to improve. You wanted to work harder in order to get better, even though you thought you played the best you could.

I think with each single tournament, Maria or anyone else that plays that are young, they might feel like they're playing their best tennis, but at the time they might not be physically ready or they might not have the experience behind their backs. I think it just takes time.

Q. What was the biggest thing you learned from that first experience?

MARIA SHARAPOVA: I think the level of the competition. Just the fact that, you know, I went on court, and I remember first two games were really, really difficult against Monica. Deuce, I had breakpoints. I think I might have even broken her. You just think you're playing so good. But the top people, they just know -- you know, they're not worried. "Oh, I lost a break." But they know what to do.

It's just -- I don't know. I've learned so much in the past from that match.

Q. Did it just seem like the biggest stadium ever?

MARIA SHARAPOVA: Oh, yeah, yeah, for sure. It was one of the biggest, if not the biggest I've ever played on back then.

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TATIANA GOLOVIN: I know. You know, I think I started off pretty well. I think in the second I was playing the same, but I was just making those mistakes that I wasn't making in the first set. You know, just seems likes all the girls really want to win and really want to beat me, so they're all hanging on every point and really are playing well. I think in the third set really I fought. I'm like, you got two hours to spend on the court and you just got to really focus, just try to do your best, keep on hitting the ball.

Obviously, I didn't play as well as I wanted to. But I think as long as I'm playing better with every match, I think that's the most important thing.

Q. Are those kind of matches sometimes more satisfying when you fight hard to win, even if you're not playing your best?

TATIANA GOLOVIN: Definitely, definitely. I mean, we hit a lot of balls. That can only build up your confidence, even if you're not playing great, if you're not putting the balls away. I hit a lot of balls. I think mentally and physically I'm feeling well. Obviously going into my next match, I'll be ready. I want to play. I think that's really important.

Q. It wasn't that long ago you were one of those players who tried to knock off the bigger players. Reversing roles.

TATIANA GOLOVIN: It's so weird because it happened so fast. I just can't believe last year I was really happy going through the first round, beating a player. Now it just kind of seems like I have to win, and that's normal, and all the other players really want to play well against me. That's just really weird because it just happened so fast.

But I'm getting used to it. If I want to be Top 10, that's the way it's always going to be.

Q. So your next match against Dementieva, a Top 10. Are those the types of wins you need more of?

TATIANA GOLOVIN: Yeah, I think it's going to be a good match. I mean, I know how she plays. She knows how I play. I played her a few years ago in Paris. Obviously, I think we've both improved. It's going to be a totally different match. You know, I'm just really looking forward to it. Now I'm the one that's got nothing to lose. I'm just going to go out, really play well, try to play well, and we'll see how it goes.

Q. You're young. How much does experience matter now for you in winning matches versus when you first came on the tour, maybe didn't quite know as much?

TATIANA GOLOVIN: Yeah. Well, I think now the experience just comes. I mean, I'm not trying to get matches, not necessarily trying to get matches, because I played all last year pretty much a full schedule. I've played a lot of tournaments. I've had a lot of matches in. I don't think experience counts that match. I think "dealing" is the word, dealing with situations, dealing with them right, you know. You don't want to lose a match because you made some stupid mistakes at the wrong time. I think that's maybe what you mean by "experience".

Q. You feel like you're a smarter player now?

TATIANA GOLOVIN: I think you have to be. I think you have to be smarter with everything, off the court and on the court. Obviously, you know, last year I was really excited going to every tournament. For me everything was really new and exciting. Now it's more like this is kind of my job, this is kind of where I have to play well.

Q. What do you do tournament to tournament? Do you organize your own hitting partners?

TATIANA GOLOVIN: Yeah, I'm going to need to start having a sparring partner, so I can get my practices in, if I need to work on something. Like I said, I have Loic here. If anything really goes wrong, I feel like I need to work on something, it will always help. I don't feel pressure that I need a coach, that I'm lost when I'm on the court.

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