Maria Sharapova has won five Grand Slam titles, was once number one in the tennis world. After a doping ban, the Russian woman no longer reached her former world-class level. Now the 32-year-old begins a new phase of life.
Los Angeles (dpa) - Tennis star Maria Scharapowa skillfully staged her extraordinary resignation.
In chic white blouse and black trousers, the five-time Grand Slam winner and businesswoman took a seat in an armchair, a bouquet of flowers next to them and looked back on incisive moments of their grandiose but also controversial career. "How do you leave the only life you knew?" Asks the Russian, who once won at Wimbledon when she was 17, rhetorically: "Tennis - I say goodbye".
On February 26, 2020, the career of the former world rankings first ended, the decision published in an essay for the magazines "Vanity Fair" and "Vogue" and also distributed in a video. After once great successes on the most important tennis courts in the world, the 32-year-old says goodbye without a tournament participation previously announced as the last appearance. And no longer than the big star of the women's scene that she once was.
This year, Sharapova played only two matches, which they both lost. With the 3: 6, 4: 6 against the Croatian Donna Vekic at the Australian Open, she slipped out of the top 350 and is now number 373 in the world. "Tennis has shown me the world - and it has shown me what kind of wood I am made of," she wrote. "After 28 years and five Grand Slam titles, I am ready to climb another mountain - and take on a different terrain."
It was almost four years ago that there had been speculation whether she would stop. But at that time, the former world-class athlete admitted her positive drug test in a media-staged appearance. At the Australian Open 2016, Sharapova was tested for the cardiac drug Meldonium. The World Anti-Doping Agency put it on the list of prohibited substances at the time. Sharapova hadn't informed himself about the changed rules.
A fatal mistake. After being suspended for 15 months and making a comeback in Stuttgart in April 2017, the former number one in the world could no longer reach its previous level. Again and again they threw back injury problems, she was operated on the shoulder several times during her career.
Sharapova won more than $ 38 million in prize money, earned many millions through sponsorship deals, and was considered one of the best-earning athletes. She won a total of 36 titles and is one of only ten players who has won every Grand Slam tournament once: In addition to the Wimbledon title in 2004, she triumphed in 2006 at the US Open, 2008 at the Australian Open and 2012 and 2014 at the French Open. "She was a great champion," tennis icon Billie Jean King said on Twitter.
For years, the American of choice was a magnet for the public and advertising partners for the WTA. In the past few years, however, other sports had come into focus. "A key to my success was that I never looked back and never looked ahead," she said.
In her essay, the 32-year-old recalls how she first sat on a tennis court as a four-year-old in Sochi, Russia, and how her thin legs dangled from the bench. She looks back on how she moved to Florida with her father as a six-year-old for a great career. "By devoting my life to tennis, tennis has given me a life. I will miss it every day," Sharapova wrote.
Essay by Sharapowa at "Vanity Fair"
WTA profile Sharapova