Intro:

Top seed Serena Williams and defending champion Maria Sharapova give their reaction to losing their semi-final matches at the Madrid Masters on Friday (8th May).

Script:

SOUNDBITE (English): Maria Sharapova:

"She (Svetlana Kutnetsova) has come back from behind in so many of her previous matches that she's played here and I really felt like she stepped up today. She had much more pop on her ball than I did, I felt my shots were a little bit too flat and right in her striking zone, and she was just able to push me back. And when I got into a rally she was the one who found the right ball to be the more aggressive player and really put me on the defence. She did that throughout the whole match, got the early break, and I only had one break point so I think I could have returned better today, especially as she won 60 per cent of her second serves, which is not a stat that usually goes in my favour. I like to take advantage of second serves and I just didn't do that too well today."

SOUNDBITE (English) Serena Williams:

"I am just exhausted today, it's been a rough week for me but it's all part of the play though. It's really good to be really exhausted now and then go into another tournament, and then getting ready for Roland Garros, so this is all great preparation. I actually really needed something that pushed me on the wall and pushed me to the limit. I think it's perfect actually, it's perfect timing, so hopefully I'll be able to continue from this."

Q. So you are going to Rome (Masters)?

"I am scheduled next to go to Rome (smiles and grimaces)."