Maria Sharapova believes the inspiration of a Japanese trainer can propel her to a first French Open title, a career Grand Slam and a return to the world number one spot
The Russian world number two, who takes on Czech fourth seed Petra Kvitova in today’s semi-finals at Roland Garros, has credited Yutaka Nakamura for helping boost her claycourt confidence and comfort.
“I work with a Japanese trainer that I’ve known for a long time, a physical trainer from Florida. He was in Australia for a few years and now he came back to the States, so I started working with him in the off-season a little bit here and there,” said Sharapova after her 6-2, 6-3 win over Estonia’s Kaia Kanepi yesterday.
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Maria Sharapova celebrates her win over Kaia Kanepi in the French Open QF yesterday. Pic/Getty Images
“I’ll see him again after here. It’s been nice to have him.”
Nakamura, says Sharapova, has helped tweak the way she moves on clay, always a test for a woman standing at an imposing 1.88m. “There are a few different movements on clay with the sliding and the recovering and getting back into the point which you work on, but I think it's just a general sense of movement.”
Kvitova in semis
Meanwhile, Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic reached the semi-finals yesterday with a hard-earned 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 win over qualifier Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan.
“Every point that we played was really tough,” Kvitova said after beating Shvedova, who was ahead 4-2 in the third set when the Czech turned the match around.
Semi-final line-up
>> Samantha Stosur vsu00a0Sara Errani
Head-to-head: Stosur leads 5-0
>> Petra Kvitova vs Maria Sharapova
Head-to-head: Sharapova leads 3-2u00a0
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