Maria Sharapova brushed up on French before trophy ceremony (PHOTO)
When 17-year-old Maria Sharapova stunned the tennis world by defeating Serena Williams at Wimbledon, she breached club protocol by using her father's cell phone to try and contact her mother in the United States. She didn't get through; service was poor at Centre Court.
Eight years later, Sharapova capped her career Grand Slam by defeating Sara Errani 6-3, 6-2 at the French Open. And what did she do in the first moments after her historic victory? She snuck a look at a piece of paper with some French words on it.
At first, we though she was maybe texting her mom or reading a message from her fiancee, Sasha Vujacic (who's finishing his basketball season in Turkey and was surely watching -- even though he wasn't thanked in his future wife's victory speech). Or maybe she was reaching for a tin of Altoids, we didn't know.
But after the match, she revealed that she looked at a piece of paper with some French words written on it. She spoke a few sentences in French during the trophy ceremony, delighting the crowd at Court Suzanne Lenglen.
A French reporter later complimented her on her grasp of the language.
"Oh, please," she said with a laugh. "Let's only give compliments where compliments are due. That's not an area where you can compliment me on."
