on Larry King now it's tennis Superstar Maria Sharapova when did you know you were good I never think that I'm good I think that I can always be better do you form friendships in the locker room I don't I'm not trying to say it either plus sugar Pope is a is a candy company that I started that's a product place that's all ahead on Larry King now welcome to Larry King now our special guest Maria Sharapova the global tennis star she has four grand slam championships one at each major and has held the number one ranking in women's professional tennis for 21 weeks she's the highest paid female athlete in the world a great pleasure meeting you you're taller than my wife you're used to being told sorry are you always tall I didn't grow until 17 18. like I had a major growth spurt then so that was not easy you were born in Siberia I was born in Siberia did you start playing tennis in Siberia I did not no I didn't I didn't have the chance not the tennis how did you pick it up where'd you start to play well when I was two we moved um we moved down to the South and we moved to Sochi I've Resort town where we happen to be having the Winter Olympics next year which is quite exciting so I was four years old and my father was a fan and that's how I got into it no one in my family really was athletic or played much sports or although my father thinks he's a professional athlete you not did you take to it right away I did I love the competitiveness of the sport from the beginning I really that is what drew me to the sport because no one no one around me really knew the sport so well and and Tennis back then was not so popular you know unlike now where it's in every every Center so many coaches now available whereas back then you didn't have much at all that's why tennis players weren't paid a lot whoa and you didn't have you didn't have the infrastructure you didn't have the type of facilities the type of coaching that can get you to the next level at least not in the town where I was from you had a Dropout of U.S open I did because of a shoulder injury yeah is that hard it's tough it's tough being a very competitive athlete and not being able to see your name in the draw of yeah did you feel you could play I mean did you did it the doctors say don't the doctor did say no I've had many opinions and you know when when you're at a certain level and you've been there and you've done that you know what your body can do you know you have a certain pain threshold but I've been playing with it for a while and at that point it was just it was a matter of you need to get better so when you don't play do you watch I watched a little bit of the final because I had the opportunity I had time I've been in New York I stayed in New York which is quite rare because I usually like to get out of the Town once I'm done in the tournament or if I'm not playing but I made it fun it was a New York Fashion Week I did a few things with Porsche and it was a nice opportunity for me to do things with my friends that I actually don't get to do what'd you think of Serena I mean she's an incredible an incredible athlete to be able to win that many Grand Slams at this stage in her careers where would you rank her all the time she's up there sure when you have a rival like that are those matches more intense absolutely so you do rise differently depending on the opponent yeah I think there's there's definitely something different in the air when you walk out on the court against Rivals definitely do you play to their fascinating of being a big sports fan do you play a mental part of it you played it there yeah the mental part you played their weakness perceived weakness or your strength um it's tough to say because I wish you know part of me always wished that no one had strengths and weaknesses that's when I play the best is when I don't know is when I don't have to think too much about it when you go out on the court and you play by Instinct and you do you know you trust in the work that you put in before that because ultimately when you go out there and it's what is it six all in the third and you're down to the tiebreaker in the third set you're not really thinking I'm gonna go to the back end or to the forehand it's your mind you know taking over so embeddle a big part of the game absolutely I think that's won me many more matches than anything else in my career I thought your opponent no I've just stayed tougher than them you stay angry you're an angry player I'm not I'm not an angry some people are I agree remember the great Ilya nastassi who got mad at the first shirt I have no reason to be angry I'm I'm beyond fortunate to do what I do but yet I'm so competitive and that's what drives me and I hate to lose so if that's what you know you call anger I call that competitiveness yeah but hating to lose is hitting to lose yeah I don't like to lose at all did you have a grudge thing with Serena for a while not at all no no is that overplayed I think so a lot of things and and press are overplayed I'm sure you know about that I I've heard that no what about are you oh grigor are you getting married no I'm not getting married are you engaged not that I know of no I'm not a kid but you're dating him I I am dating him is he a good player he is a good player how did you meet I've known him for many years on the tour so you're not there's no truth the rumors that you're getting engaged I'm not engaged no when you were approaching a match do you know you're going to play well before the first serve I don't that's the beauty of the sport as you never know I sometimes I I go into a tournament and I feel on quite honestly so bad about the way I'm playing about I'm not a good player in practice so I I play practice matches with other girls or other boys and and I don't do well at all and I I've learned to accept that because I know that things change once the tournament starts they're just something clicks and something changes and then you have times where you feel exceptional and you feel like you're on top of the world and you go into a match and things just don't work out it's just not your day your feet are heavy or you're not moving nothing's going in you're making errors that you shouldn't be making so it all every day is a different day and that's why I that's what excites me about every every chance every tournament I've done it for so many years but when you feel that way that's what keeps you going how would you describe the strength of your game a lot of the strength is in my mind I've I grew up um you know not being the strongest girl or having all the shots in the game or all the different varieties but I've won I've won so many matches in my career and gotten to the place where I am um because of because of my mind yeah like chess just being you know smart about also I mean there's you don't just win a match because you're you're good you surround yourself with people that help you so much to to get to where you are today it's really it's a team effort and I you you accomplish something but you always think back to five years ten years ago of those little moments that helped you get to this certain point coming up Maria has already booked her place in the Tennis Hall of Fame but are her best days yet to come more next we're back with the great Maria Sharapova we're going to talk about candy in the next segment she trees me do you form friendships in the locker room I don't I'm not trying to say it either why not because it's such a competitive sport it's so individual it's it's tough for me to imagine being friendly and having a friendship with someone and then next day going out on the court and trying to beat them I don't think that's fair so Gibson was a great pitcher years ago he disliked the other team he didn't like All-Star games where you had to play with your opponents do you feel that way do you dislike the other player I don't dislike I I always feel like everyone is in their own little world everyone has just because we're we're all tennis players doesn't mean we all have the same interest doesn't mean we're friends you know and we certainly don't play for the same team so that's a bit different yeah it's an individuals right into individual sport is it as you approach Grand Slams you know the Tiger Woods would rather win the major than winning or that's more important to him than winning three tournaments how do you approach the majors at this point in my career that that's definitely the emphasis is is doing well at the majors because I've had the the fortune to win a lot of tournaments around the world and I mean I've been professional since I was quite young so I've been there done that and and certainly the majors are that high stage that you you always want to compete the best at in golf the major major I guess is the Masters what's the major major to you I don't know much about golf now Wimbledon the I think so there's something really there's something really special that goes back to the tradition of the game of tennis in general I just always think of you know women playing with their long white skirts up to the knee and their polo shirts and buttoned all the way to the top and their wooden tennis racket and it just seems elegant to me and when I think of that I think of Wimbledon so that to me is right you ever watch film of the older tennis players of the past I don't often but I have yes Billie Jean King and Patty Berg yes there were some great ones your family sacrificed a great deal for your career right a lot take me through those early days well I started playing tennis I was only four and um at the age of six I happened to we took a flight to Moscow where Martina Navratilova was was holding a tennis exhibition for many kids it was hundreds and hundreds of kids and and my coach at the time and sochan my father thought it'd be you know a nice trip to go down there and be part of this camp and and I remember being on that court and you know you're surrounded by so many kids you don't think you'd ever be noticed and I remember Martina put pulling my father aside and saying that she thinks I have something special and that we should do something about it and at that time as I as I said tennis was so far from being popular in Russia that you you didn't have anything really to develop it unlike now um and that's that's the reason why we moved to the United States I was seven years old and I went with my father because my mom couldn't get a visa for the first two years so I didn't see her but it was a huge sacrifice for my family because at the end of the day they had a normal life a simple life that was nothing they weren't wealthy they weren't poor um but they could have stayed and been happy and been doing the things that they were doing and yeah you always appreciate that always I love my parents when did you know you were good I never think that I'm good I'm not I don't what do you think I think that I can always be better because there needs to be something inside of your mind inside of you that that keeps you going that keeps you fresh that when you do something every single day you need to be inspired and if you think that you're good to be true then well was there a match was there an early career happening I mean I many many of my younger Junior days I practiced in Florida and Academy there in in Bradenton Florida where I still have a home and I remember um you know the high-end clients the sponsors of the academy will come down once or twice during the year and and the coaches would hold the Clinics of their you know the Juniors that they wanted to I guess show off in a way and great place and it is a great place and I I was I was always part of those little you know show-off camps and I didn't under I never really understood because it was you know men coming in with their suits and ties and there I was a 10 year old girl and I didn't quite understand why I deserved to be on that Court in front of them and and I think until I never really understood until I won Wimbledon because then you at that point you you actually think that maybe I deserve I deserve the credit now once I achieve oh you when you want to wimbled I was 17. coming up Maria gives me a little sugar that's it stay tuned we're back with Maria Sharapova we're going to get into a little oh by the way how did the grunt start from the very beginning from when I was young you can't explain it you can't explain it what does it how did we go from sugar I want to go to this give me the grunt oh I can't do it when I don't have a ragged no oh you have to have it in your hand oh I have to yeah I have to do the real thing it's loud oh yeah all right how did this what is you've developed the Sweet Tooth over the past year what is sugarpova share in New York City right before the U.S open and it's our one year anniversary um it's gotten so many great different directions I I've always had a sweet tooth I've had a passion for sweets I grew up in Russia not knowing what a gummy bear was and when I moved to the United States I love gummy bears I was so I was ecstatic because I never seen a texture flavor of gummy candies before and I remember thinking this would be so so nice to take back to my friends and and the name sugar Puba came about about three years ago and then I put it together with gummies and took two years to create and here we are so and the gumballs have been um have been the fan favorite so far the tennis the tennis gumbazia uh what about the anti-sugar feeling in the world though people are saying sugar is bad for you right the day we all like sugar sweets and I also for me it's really important to have a healthy lifestyle I'm an athlete that's at the end of the day that's what I do and I know what's good and I know what's bad but I also know that when I come back home I want that little treat and I deserve it and I'm sure the others feel the same how did you think though I mean Forbes listed you as the richest female athlete do you mind that do you I don't think about that I don't think about that I don't even know because I I certainly don't have access to other athletes bank accounts and I'm sure Forbes doesn't either you know it's it's the way that it goes these are the things that you have no control over and and you don't even think about and when we were creating this I never I mean this started as a I like to say a mom-and-pop type of business because in reality is only three people working for this and now it's it's a whole other business where is it sold it's sold at Henry bendel's it's sold on sugarpova.com we actually just we for a one year anniversary we just started selling accessories at Henry bendel's as well so I just I wanted to take it in different directions I wanted it's still fun and young and at the end of the day it's all it's still candy so we did little earrings that are the logo has been really popular so we did that's for it not for you but for your wife and the t-shirts um so one of the when we did when we created the logo we I always loved lip logos and shapes and from like big chairs that are shaped and lips and um and that's how the logo came about and it was really popular when we launched the candy the little makeup bags then all the candy so yeah well thank you you can gift this to your wife yes absolutely how do we open one of these and I'm gonna eat one pretty easy here Corky this is my personal favorite is quirky I like the name where's the candy made in Spain I was why Spain it's a great Factory I was personally there making sure everything oh [Music] please turn on oh all right what's the next question because you're just gonna keep eating it I know do you really get involved in tasting and everything from everything that's written on the package to the actual shapes to the flavors does this take away from your Athletics I enjoy this so much I I have fun doing it I think that's one of the reasons I've been really successful at the things that I do is I I come off the court and I think well I did my job I practiced I gave the effort and when I woke up in the morning that's all I wanted to do I certainly wasn't thinking about sporty pink and then I get off court and you have five six hours in your hotel room after you're practicing and you're thinking you're thinking of things you're keeping your mind busy and and that's why I love it having all that I keep eating yeah please oh babe you're gonna I'm gonna where was it was this one oh boy oh boy he got me hung on this these are really good it's dangerous they don't gain weight though oh I do I just I work out extra yeah you work out a lot I I don't know if a lot is the right word but what was it like having success at such a young age are we able I don't know I don't know the other way so I I was I was so happy with with what I achieved on the court that I anything that came you win Wimbledon is so crazy I look at I look I didn't think it was crazy at the time but I look back at it now as a 26 year old and I think especially now thinking you know when you're watching when I watch TV and someone that's 20 or 21 is playing and and they're saying well this is the youngster that's coming up you know I think back to when I was 17 and think wow that was that was an infant I mean that's really young so how have your parents reacted to all this they've been my my best supporters because they you know my parents the best the best gift that they gave me was that they were always realistic they lived in a real world they understood that this could all fail at any moment any time in in your career and they were never afraid of that I must ask you why did you part ways with Jimmy Carter's it was just not the right not the right fit wrong timing with my injury with with everything going on is just not the right time for why do you need a coach everyone thinks we know it all but we really there's so many things that you see when you're away from it from a perspectives and the things that you see sometimes I get off the court and I think I played a great match I think I did so many things well I listened to what my coach said and then you come off the court and they're giving you a dirty look and it makes you think twice because they saw things from a different a completely different you need that next Maria will take questions from her fans and we'll play if you only knew and I'll have some more Sharapova candy oh boy welcome back Maria Sharapova what a great guest what great candy this candy is so great that it doesn't stay on your lips eat it and it goes away anyway you have 11 million Facebook fans right I think I guess we have some social media questions for you Vivek Gupta on Facebook wants to know are you interested in acting that takes a lot of time I I don't know if I'm good at it I'm not good at remembering a lot of lines if I have a prompter in front of me sure at Joshua j13 via Twitter what inspired you to play tennis the competitiveness and then when I moved to United States I I realize that there's a whole nother world to explore there's so many countries and cultures and and people to meet and and that's really inspiring you go back to Russia I do 95 on Twitter what will you do when you leave tennis oh I don't want to think about that because I I still believe I have so many more years ahead of me you're only 26. yeah and you've got candies and more businesses you'll do a lot of things I would love to I'm certainly not stopping now at maravia Twitter wants to know do you plan to play the season ending championships in Istanbul that's my goal tournament this at this shoulder so well what do they say about the healing house house it's going to take as much time as it needs bursitis is is a bit tricky because there's not much you can do for it except to wait till it it gets better which is quite I'm not a patient person so that's that makes it extremely difficult on Facebook Jeremiah Garcia asks aside from being a top tennis player what's your greatest achievement you know I've I've formed a charity and I work with United Nations on a Chernobyl affected areas and I have done that for for a while because both of my parents were actually from Belarus and in 1987 in 1987 when um when Chernobyl struck they my mother was pregnant with me and we moved to Russia and that's the reason I was born in Russia so it's pretty it's a pretty close subject to my heart and I feel like um yeah that's something quite important and it happened I've been back to Belarus um and obviously been back to the north north of Russian Parts where where that happened uh it can be cheat on Twitter wants to know what's your favorite cheese [Music] my favorite cheese either a goat cheese or a sheep milk cheese Joe David Fraley on Facebook what do you do for fun what's your number one fun thing to do oh don't say it like that I love snow oh goodness number two then you see you're reading flirty and so you're getting to the wrong stuff oh you're reading that huh okay Maria know what I do um I I'm never home so when I am home I I actually enjoy being domestic and you cook I like to I'm no good but I like to try Facebook follow Ethan tweet Ethan white ash what's your favorite trophy Ethan white okay Wimbledon my Wimbledon trophy other than Serena who's the toughest person to play on the tour right now well azarenko right now is ranked number two behind Serena and she's she's had a great year as well so she's always tough to play against okay a couple of quick questions favorite game if you only knew remember the first boy you kissed uh um I do what was his name I won't say why no how old were you this because this is not a private conversation I've been nine years old it could have been evil I eagle no it wasn't in you or that's for sure best match you ever played is there a Best Match I ever played one of the funnest match I ever played was one I lost against Justine hennen at the I think it was 2000 and six championships or seven year in championships in Madrid there's like a three and a half hour battle but looking back that was that was a fun match to be a part of three and a half hours and even though you're lost yes it was fun I enjoyed it because a few months after that I beat her at the Sterling open hahaha is there a song you can't stop listening to city with the best fans City with New York City night match favorite place to be when you're not on the tennis court we're by the beach most Dependable tennis stroke dependable oh um I love The Swinging volley first car first car that I purchased oh that's a tough one I don't know what car I purchased but I drive a Porsche 911 now a Porsche 911 yeah biggest regret don't have any favorite movie Something's Gotta Give with Jack Nicholson that was a great movie I can watch that over and over again I love it how do you prepare for a tournament by the way a lot of hours on the court hours in the gym that's what you do when you get getting to going to the tournament and playing the tournaments actually the the easy part I love getting to the tournament you don't have to do anything practice an hour or two get home you have all the time in the world when your shoulder's okay do you play every day I do six days a week probably six days a week yeah practice play something everything thank you Maria thank you thank you for these wonderful sugars yes or anywhere else sugarpova.com sugarpova sugarpoger.com thanks to my guest Maria and by the way sure to pick up a bag of her sugar Poppa candy in select stores now or go to sugarpova.com for more information hope to see her back on the tennis court soon remember you can find me on Twitter at King's things see you next time this is great stuff thank you I can eat it without getting it on my lips thank you