It seems tennis is the last thing Maria Sharapova wants to talk about off-court these days.
Not that the four-time grand slam champion’s passion for the sport is waning ahead of her comeback from injury.
In a rare insight into her private life, Sharapova said dating and travelling with fellow professional Grigor Dimitrov had helped her stay motivated ahead of her first tournament in five months due to a shoulder injury – her Australian Open warm-up event, the Brisbane International.
However, the world No.4 said it had nothing to do with swapping notes on their tennis game.
“Of course we share a lot of the same things just because we have an elephant in the room that’s called tennis,” she said of Dimitrov, who has returned to Brisbane after losing last year’s final to Andy Murray.
“But there are so many other things to life that are besides tennis, and there are a lot more things to discuss than forehands and backhands and strings and racquets, which we share similar ideas and things of.
“Yeah, that’s been really nice.”
Sharapova, 26, laughed when asked if she could play a mentor role to Dimitrov, the world No.23 who is four years her junior.
“He’s not going to like that question,” the Russian said Brisbane’s fifth seed in the men’s draw.
“Maybe I’ve been on the tour for longer, but he’s played this sport for a very long time, since he was a little kid – he knows what to do probably better than I do.”
The only mentor Sharapova wanted to talk about was new coach Sven Groeneveld ahead of her renewed assault on the tour after pulling out of the US Open in August with her shoulder complaint.
The Russian seemed finally settled after splitting with long-term coach Thomas Hogstedt following her shock second-round loss at Wimbledon and an ill-fated stint with Jimmy Connors, which lasted only one match.
“You have to realise that the decisions you make, you have to make them selfishly in this business to be better, to know what’s right for you, because time goes really fast,” Sharapova said of her support staff shake-up.
“From the first time we met I really liked what he (Groeneveld) had to say.
“I like when someone comes in and is honest and truthful and says it like it is.
“He’s that. He puts it all out on the table. He’s a team player. He works with everyone on my team, something I was missing for a little bit of time.”