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Speaking on Thursday in Singapore, Maria Sharapova was quick to clarify: Garbine Muguruza maybe be considered one of the WTA’s rising stars, but she has already arrived. Here’s a finny little snippet from Sharapova’s press conference that reveals just how good Sharapova thinks Muguruza is at this stage of the 22-year-old’s career:

Q. I'm sure you've talked about this, but Muguruza tomorrow. Is she very good? Is it hard to tell? I know she's fairly young.

MARIA SHARAPOVA: Is she very good? She's 3 in the world, so I think she's...

Q. But she hasn't won slam yet.

MARIA SHARAPOVA: I think she's very good.

Q. But how good?

MARIA SHARAPOVA: Yeah, she's a player that everyone has seen and has thought that would do really well. I think her game has developed really well in this past season. She's a Grand Slam finalist at Wimbledon. That says a lot already. She's had a great last few weeks. She seems to be playing great tennis here. She's on the well, she's not on the rise, she is...

Q. Wouldn't you say it's different a little bit to win the slams than reaching the final?

MARIA SHARAPOVA: Yeah, of course. But is she 21? 20?

Q. 22.

MARIA SHARAPOVA: Yeah.

Q. You won it when you were 17.

MARIA SHARAPOVA: Her path has been going up, and I mean, I don't think she's plateaued in any way. I think she has an incredible amount of potential to grow. We haven't played in a long time. I think last time was in Canada. We played a few three setters. I know how difficult it is to play against her. She has a powerful game.

Yeah, I'm excited about the opportunity of playing against her again.

 


The pair could meet in the finals in Singapore if both can prevail in the semis. By then Sharapova might even know exactly how old Muguruza is (not that it's important).

Sharapova holds a 3-0 edge over Muguruza, but their last two encounters went to three sets and they have not met in over a year. The last time they met Muguruza was just barely inside the Top-30. This weekend the pair are battling for the year-end No. 3 ranking, which will be determined based on the pair's results over the next two days.

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