"It was a moment when I really felt the weight" - Maria Sharapova opens up on beating Serena Williams in the Wimbledon final at the age of 17

Maria Sharapova recently opened up on defeating Serena Williams in the 2004 Wimbledon final at the age of 17.

Sharapova's 2004 Wimbledon glory was her first-ever Grand Slam triumph. Before that, her best result at the Majors was a quarterfinal finish at the French Open in the same year. Moreover, at the Wimbledon final, the Russian faced Williams, who had already won six Grand Slam titles, including two at SW19.

Sharapova, however, powered through Williams and secured a 6-1, 6-4 win to clinch her maiden Major trophy at just 17 years of age. She recently talked in detail about her Wimbledon experience from around 20 years ago in the latest episode of the Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard podcast.

Sharapova stated that she had already suffered a setback against Williams a couple of months ago and the magnitude of the Wimbledon final also added to the pressure.

"There was so much on the line in that match… one of the biggest reasons was because it was Wimbledon. Actually, I played Serena a few months back at a tournament in Miami and she easily won that match in two sets," she said.

"It was a moment itself when I really felt the weight. It was the fact that Wimbledon in my eyes growing up was ‘The Event, The Tournament,’ the place where as a professional you want to end up, you want those French doors to open to Centre Court," Maria Sharapova added.

The five-time Grand Slam champion went on to add that she was on a roll after beating Amy Frazier in the fourth round at Wimbledon.

"And it did and it just happened to be the final for me. It’s interesting it was one of the first few times in my career as a young girl that I felt what it was like to be in the zone. You know when athletes speak about being in the flow, in the zone, I had that moment in the middle of the tournament, and it was in the fourth round," she said.

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Maria Sharapova - "I was letting go of any fear that I had"

Maria Sharapova

Maria Sharapova also weighed in on the lack of experience she had at Grand Slams before going head-to-head against Serena Williams at the 2004 Wimbledon final.

"It was not that I had that much experience in the Grand Slam tournaments… just two weeks before it was my first time getting into the quarterfinals at the French Open. Even though I lost, it was a huge victory," she said.

The former World No. 1 also spoke about unchaining herself with every shot she hit on the grasscourt against Williams on in the Wimbledon final on July 3, 2004.

"I found myself in this flow state in the middle of the event playing someone who also should’ve beaten me. But I won that match so confidently and so routinely. It felt like I was letting go of all the repetitions, I was letting go of any fear that I had. I just allowed the moment and my skill to shine through," Maria Sharapova said.