Maria Sharapova speaks about the upcoming US Open at the launching of her accessory line Tuesday in New York City.
(On day’s event) Sharapova:“Yeah well we’re launching my accessories collection called Sugarpova with Henri Bendel. We launched the candy collection last year here. It’s our one-year birthday anniversary I guess. We’ve added a few different pieces into the collection – a few hairpieces, some earrings, a few bags and T-shirts with the logo. When I created the product there was a lot of demand for the logo to be incorporated on different products. You know Henri Bendel is known for their great accessories and we wanted to partner up and do something fun.”
(On changing her name to Sugarpova for the US open) Sharapova:“Yeah I definitely considered changing my name, but in the end it became a bit too difficult. When I started this brand I wanted it to be all about having fun, about creating new ideas, about raising awareness of the brand-name and that is something that just came up. I thought it would be really interesting to do, but in the end it was just too difficult at this time.”
(Ending coaching relationship with Jimmy Connors after one event) Sharapova:“Yeah, It was just not the right fit at this time in my career. Obviously it’s tough to have that change going into the U.S. Open, but I feel like it’s the right decision. Who knows what will happen down the line. Jimmy is still a really good friend of mine and a great person. I’ve known him for many, many years. It was just not the right fit at this time.”
