Maria Sharapova tried to put a positive spin on her ouster in the fourth round of the Australian Open.
Privately, she may be concerned that her body simply may not hold up to the extent she needs to compete at a top-tier level.
Sharapova, the No. 3 seed, lost to 20th-seeded Dominika Cibulkova 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 in a match lasting more than two hours.
Sharapova's nemesis, Serena Williams, already had been bounced from the tournament, so Sharapova had a chance to return to tennis after a five month layoff with a Grand Slam victory.
Instead, she now has to overcome another injury. Sharapova took a medical timeout at the end of the second set to receive treatment of a hip strain, the Sydney Morning Herald reported. It added that Sharapova was bothered by a hip pointer last summer at Wimbledon.
That injury, however, was unrelated to her five-month absence. She had to rest her ailing shoulder on her right arm.
Sharapova declined to use the hip strain as an excuse for the loss.
''I haven't been playing the best tennis of this tournament but I found ways to get through the last two matches,'' said the Russian. ''I tried to do that again today, but she played extremely well.''
Sharapova looked at her run through the Australian Open as a remarkable sign.
''It's a success in terms that I'm back and I'm healthy,'' she said. ''That's quite important. Otherwise I wouldn't give myself a chance to play. On that note I have to look at the positives and see where I have come from in the last four or five months.
''I would certainly have loved to play a little bit more before playing a grand slam, but this is the chance I was given. I'm smart enough to be able to take it and acknowledge that I'm still pretty lucky to be in the draw and giving myself a chance to win it."
But doubt has to be creeping in Sharapova's mind, at least a little. She has not been completely healthy in a tournament in almost a year, between the shoulder and the hip.
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