Maria Sharapova said she remains confident in her ability to compete with the best despite Monday's crushing defeat by old foe Serena Williams in the first round of the US Open.
Five-time Grand Slam winner Sharapova was ruthlessly dumped out in just 59 minutes on Arthur Ashe as Williams beat the Russian for the 19th time in a row to improve her record in the rivalry to 20-2.
"Bottom line is I believe in my ability," said Sharapova, who has slipped to 87th in the world rankings after another season marred by injury.
"You can write me off. There are many people that can write me off, especially after going down 6-1, 6-1 in the first round of the US Open. As long as it's not the person that's inside of you, you'll be OK."
"That's the stage that you play for. That's where I played as a teenager. That's where I fortunately get to play like tonight. I mean, you work hard, we all do, in order to get to that stage, because that's where the finals are. That's where you want to be." -
'Easy to be discouraged' -
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