Sharapova: Hunger Undiminished

An injury-marred 2019 season left a bad taste in Maria Sharapova's mouth.The five-time Grand Slam champion says her hunger is undiminished for a bounce-back 2020.More: Lucie Safarova Gives Birth!Sharapova fended off Ajla Tomljanovic 6-4, 7-5, in the Mubadala World Tennis Championship exhibition match on Thursday night in Abu Dhabi.

The former world No. 1 looked fit and hit her groundstrokes with her trademark sting and shriek in her Abu Dhabi return.A chronic shoulder issue limited Sharapova to 15 matches in 2019. She posted an 8-7 record pulling the plug on her season after Serena Williams administered a 6-1, 6-1 thrashing at the US Open.

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2 words, 7 letters, and only 12 tennis balls each, @mariasharapova, @rafaelnadal, & @djokernole kicked off #MWTC. Challenge? DEFEATED. . . #AbuDhabi #MakeWayForTheBest #Star #Players #Tournament #Festival #Championship #Kids #Family #Weekend #Tennis #UAE🇦🇪 #InAbuDhabi
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Dec 19, 2019 at 7:00am PST

Sharapova said her 2020 mission statement is to bring her best to every match."It's obvously a very special sport to be a part of," Sharapova said. "And the feelings, the competition, it's very different from maybe other professions. But I don't know what it's like in other professions."My motivation is to always be the best I can be in what I do. It's not always easy. I had a really tough 2019, but 2020 is a new year, a new opportunity and I will certainly give it all I have."Photo credit: @MariaSharapova]]>