Maria Sharapova: 'I'm proud of my effort at Australian Open'

Maria Sharapova has revealed that she felt like she had made the most of a 'second opportunity' after losing to Serena Williams in the Australian Open final.

The second seed saved two match points against Alexandra Panova in the last 64 before reaching the final, and although she was disappointed to suffer defeat at the hands of the world number one, the Russian was happy with her performances in Melbourne.

The 27-year-old said: "It's been a long couple of weeks for me. I was almost down and out in the second round so I felt like I gave myself a second life in this tournament and another opportunity.

"It wasn't quite enough today but I'm proud of the effort, proud of my couple of weeks here. I love everything about this tournament, I've had some of the best memories of my career on this court and some of my toughest losses too, but that is the life of a tennis player."

Sharapova had been hoping to win her second Australian Open title after previously winning the trophy in 2008.