Sharapova recalls her road to redemption

MARIA SHARAPOVA got high marks for the eloquence of her victory speech after winning the Australian Open on Saturday. Ditto on the preparation that got her there.

While she spoke, at times almost tearfully, of an inspirational text message from Billie Jean King, of winning the Australian Open for her coach’s mother, who had died of cancer, and of sending birthday roses to her mother, it was a polished speech that almost sounded as if it had been rehearsed.

Embarrassed by her straight-sets loss to Serena Williams last year, Maria appeared to have treated her preparation for her 7-5, 6-3 win over Ana Ivanovic with the same attention to detail.