Maria Sharapova’s Greatest Fear Is ....

Russia’s tennis princess admitted today that she prefers being on court instead of on the red carpet.

Maria Sharapova said that she likes tennis more than being in front of the camera. Is there any other way we can stress that the current cover child and poster model of the tennis tour (now that Anna Kournikova is gone, of course) doesn’t really enjoy the camera?

Fine.

Read it for yourself.

Per SI.com:

“There is nothing more mortifying than the red carpet,” she said with a smile.

Don’t get it wrong. She loves the endorsement deals and being in front of crowds of hundreds of people with point and shoots and professional DSLRs that click away. It’s just the ‘trying-to-lead-a-normal-life-isn’t-so-normal-when-you’re-on-the-red-carpet.’ kind of attention.

“It’s - I don’t want to say fake, but - it’s one big illusion, to be honest,” Sharapova said. “The things you see on a red carpet, everything is perfect, the image of a person there dressed beautifully with hair and makeup and wonderful styling. I come home an hour later and I take everything off, and, you know - `Where did all that glamour go?”’

After nine years of professional tennis, Maria Sharapova still loves the sport of tennis. She called it her “oasis.”

“You forget about everything when you’re out there. I love that feeling,” Sharapova said. “I know it sounds silly, because you’re hitting a tennis ball. But really, it’s such a good feeling when you feel that you’re good at something and you could be better.”