Certainly, it was as good as it can get in Paris earlier this month, from the morning midway through the French Open when she was asked if she would carry the flag for Russia in the Olympics, to that sun-blessed finish to the tournament, when she danced on the clay of Court Philippe Chatrier in celebration of her first title there, a win that returned her to No1 in the world for the fifth time and completed her set of four majors.
Sharapova, surely, is as well placed to win Wimbledon as anyone in this field of flickering failures and uncertain prodigies, yet, looking forward to her opening match against the 133rd-ranked Australian, Anastasia Rodionova, she says, "I always say if you think everything is great and you're feeling good, then you should be extremely worried."
With rain spitting lightly on the lawns, she spoke of the "many incredible messages" she received after beating the Italian outsider Sara Errani in two quick sets to win her first French Open in her first final at Roland Garros. "They were much more open, actually, than the ones I had previously, which was really nice. But I think I'll keep it to myself on who those are from.
"I was much more content with the way I felt [than after her previous slam wins], just more pleased. Before you're kind of like, 'Wow, this is amazing'.
"But I was really happily easy-going. I didn't feel like I needed a huge celebration. I was walking around for three days with the biggest smile. Then I got here and thought, I better get back to reality."
So, no champagne on the Champs-Elysées. She had already been thrilled, after all, by an unexpected request from her homeland. "I had to read the text message five times and read it to other people to make sure I got it correct. I got it in the morning after my third-round match, asking if I would [carry the Russian flag in London]. I didn't even know if that was a question but I was very happy to accept."
Her loyalty to Russia has never faltered, even though she left 18 years ago and lives an ultra-American life in Bradenton, Florida, a star graduate of the Nick Bollettieri tennis academy and grateful recipient of the state's sunshine and tax breaks. Nobody in the women's game earns remotely as much; Time magazine last year named her one of the "30 legends of women's tennis". On the Forbes world rich list of athletes released this week, Sharapova ranks 26th, the only woman, with total earnings over the previous 12 months of $27.9m ($22m of it in endorsements), just behind Lewis Hamilton and Wladimir Klitschko and ahead of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Wayne Rooney and Luke Donald inside the top 50.
Yet, through experience or inclination, Sharapova remains wary of life's gifts. Her parents fled the killing clouds of Chernobyl and, when they arrived in the US, her father washed dishes to support them until IMG anointed the precocious Russian starlet with their financial largesse. While the riches that followed were hard won, they arrived with the unwelcome whispers that, were it not for her blinding beauty, the numbers would be significantly smaller.
All she can do about that – as she has pointed out many times – is play her best tennis. What leavened the sniping was the shoulder injury that required serious surgery nearly four years ago and which threatened to bring all that glitter crashing around her.
"You go for a period of time where you feel good," she said, "and then there's a change, a change of weather, the ball is a little bit heavier, and then you feel it at times. It's [like that] to this day.
"But I'm much more aware of it and I know what to do. I am much more disciplined with the physical rehabilitation aspect of it. I just know it's something I'll have to do for the rest of my career. Sometimes when it feels better you're like, 'OK, I'm done.' It doesn't work that way, unfortunately."
She has managed her shoulder like an unwanted friend, a haunting relic that will not go away. Like leaving Russia, the operation was something over which she had no control. She hints that it was not altogether a success.
"I never had surgery before so I didn't really know [what it would be like]. I hoped for the best. The doctors and everybody were pretty optimistic. I guess that's what you pay them for, or part of it. But I don't know if they were always right."
It is losing control, then, that makes her sad. Maybe it is why she fights her emotions, on court and off. For someone who has everything, often she gives the appearance of having very little. Perhaps the sun will shine for her again over the next fortnight.
If Sharapova wins Wimbledon again – which is a distinct possibility rather than the mere hope it has been since her teenage victory, in 2007 – she is well-placed to take her tennis to a new level. For once, all around her in the women's game is uncertainty; for once, she is an island of calm.
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News and Media Limited 2010
image: © marianne bevis
Source: hereisthecity.com
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