Maria Sharapova: NBA Boyfriend Talks About Stress of Watching Wimbledon

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Maria Sharapova's Fiance Sasha Vujacic Talks About the Stress of Watching Her at Wimbledon 2011

Professional athletes are able to compete on the grandest of stages with all of the pressure on their shoulders. They are expected to come through in these situations. That's why they get the big bucks.

What about when they can't control the event?

Sasha Vujacic is a professional basketball player for the New Jersey Nets and has played in the NBA Finals as a member of the LA Lakers. He has two championship rings to his name.

Yet as the husband of tennis player Maria Sharapova, he is rendered useless when watching her at The All England Club for the last 10 days.

In a New York Times feature on the couple, Karen Crouse goes over the agony Vujacic feels:

During Sharapova's matches, Vujacic sits ramrod straight and taps his hands on his knees. After she ices a point or a game, he raises his right fist and keeps it in the air in case Sharapova glances at her box.
Sharapova played her fourth-round match Monday against Shuai Peng on Court 2, and by the end of the first set of her 6-4, 6-2 victory his baby blue T-shirt was stuck to his skin. "You can see I'm all sweaty from watching her play," he said afterward.
When Sharapova watches Vujacic play, she said, she gets "a lot more nervous than I have been in my life." She added: "It's a lot tougher to be on the sidelines. That's what I've learned.

As a member of the Nets, Vujacic doesn't get to experience very many big moments. He is reduced to cheering on his Russian fiance as Wimbledon rolls on.

Lucky for him, Maria is the overwhelming favorite to win the prestigious tournament and make Vujacic a proud man.

—Eric Ball

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