Maria Sharapova jokes after winning 19 straight points in Madrid win

The 2014 Mutua Madrid Open champion is in a good mood after scoring her first back-to-back wins since January, which she did in style on Monday.

MADRID, Spain - Maria Sharapova arrived at the Mutua Madrid Open riding a four-match losing streak for the first time in 15 years and for just the second time in her career. She snapped it emphatically with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Mihaela Buzarnescu in the first round and followed it up with another confident effort, beating Irina-Camelia Begu 7-5, 6-1 in the second round on Monday.

En route to the straight-set win over Begu, Sharapova won the last six games of the match and at one point reeled off 19 consecutive points. That's a rare feat for any player, but even Sharapova knew it was a particularly rare feat for her.

Q: Maria, in the second set you won 19 consecutive points during one stretch...
Sharapova: Oh!
Q: That's pretty cool.
Sharapova: That is pretty cool. 
Q: That's not bad.
Sharapova: Doesn't happen very often.
Q: No it doesn't. 
Sharapova: Not with me.
Q: You said it, not me.
Sharapova: No, I know what you're thinking (laughs).

Nothing puts you in a good mood like winning, especially at a tournament that has historically brought out the best in you. A champion in 2014, Sharapova tallied her 22nd main draw win in Madrid, the most of any player (Petra Kvitova has 21 wins and is set to play her second-round match on Tuesday). 

Sharapova has been in a focused but jovial mood in Madrid. In her first press conference, held in a steamy interview room, she joked that she was sweating through the interview due to that "winning feeling". Prior to her opening match on Sunday, reporters spotted her reading silently in a player lounge, despite being surrounded by the chaotic energy of the ATP's media day. 

"I kind of zone out," Sharapova said. "I'm like, You guys do what you got to do. I'm getting ready for a match. I have a book to read, more important things going on here," she said with a laugh.

"No, I think it's important to kind of find your own space, especially as you're focusing and getting ready to play. We all have our routines. It's kind of what you know, what you do, what you're comfortable with. Why change them because there's a media hour?

"I'm pretty used to having horse blinders on, just doing my thing, getting ready for what's ahead of me, which is most of the time a tennis match."

So what book was keeping Sharapova so completely riveted ahead of her match? The question led to an amusing exchange with the press corp:

Q. May I ask what you were reading?
MARIA SHARAPOVA: Well, I have two books. What was I reading yesterday? Oh, I was reading a book by Alan Watts. What is it called? Something 'of Insecurity'. Oh, my God, Alexander is going to kill me. I don't know. I don't have it with me. I can't believe it. I'm freezing. 

But I'm reading Trevor Noah's book and this one. It ends with something 'Insecurity'.

Q. 'The Wisdom of Insecurity'.
MARIA SHARAPOVA: High five. Free chocolate (smiling). I don't know what I think about it, but I'm in the middle of it. Did you like it?

Q. Haven't read it.
MARIA SHARAPOVA: How did you know about it?

Q. Google check.
MARIA SHARAPOVA: The cheater. Wow! Actually the whole book is about being in the moment, like not being on your phone. So that was great timing. You still get chocolate for that (smiling).

Sharapova next plays Kristina Mladenovic for a spot in the quarterfinals.