Less than a month ago we discussed the topic “Is it ova for Maria Sharapova?” and the tennis star has now put an end to all the speculations about where her career was heading — she’s announced retirement. The news doesn’t come as a surprise, obviously, and the timing is not surprising either, still, my first reaction was “no way”.
Despite her ongoing struggles to get back to her desired level of tennis, I still believed that Sharapova’s fighting spirit would win over and that she would miraculously recover. That has not happened. It’s over. The end is here. And in this case we definitely can’t expect that the 32-year-old will decide to return to competitive tennis in several years, like a number of top WTA players have done. It’s not her age, but her long struggles with shoulder injuries and her inability to prove herself after the 15-month Meldonium doping ban in 2016, it is highly unlikely that we’ll ever see Sharapova back on the court.
By posting one of her childhood tennis photos, Sharapova looked back on her career in a short statement:
Tennis showed me the world—and it showed me what I was made of. It’s how I tested myself and how I measured my growth. And so in whatever I might choose for my next chapter, my next mountain, I’ll still be pushing. I’ll still be climbing. I’ll still be growing.
At the young age of 17 the Russian won her first major title and she completed the Career Slam by winning Roland Garros 2012. She won a total of 36 titles, her last one being the 2017 Tianjin Open, and she spent 21 weeks at the No.1 ranking. Sadly, she’s ending her career ranked as low as No.373.
On-court glamour is definitely one of the things that Nike-sponsored Sharapova will stay remembered for as well. Her last tennis look was this super elegant red Nike Spring Maria Dress from her last match, a straight-set loss to Croatia’s Donna Vekic in the first round of the Australian Open.
About time.
Unquestionably one of the best of her generation – 10 slam finals, 5 wins, career grand slam – and she deserves better than the likes of Tignor, Wertheim, Bodo (Bodo popped-up with yet another factual error-strewn column, typical for him, and apparently there are no editors or fact checker at ESPN), and others in mainstream media (and from her fellow competitors too – Kvitova and Vekic being notable exceptions) obsessing over the meldonium ban and acting as if her whole career is tarnished now. The fact is, it was legal for all but 3 weeks of the time she took it, and it’s an over-the counter medicine as common as aspirin in some countries. The science behind its alleged enhancing effects is questionable, and WADA has a history of being overzealous (As far as I’m concerned anything sold over-the-counter shouldn’t be on any banned list. I’ve heard of athletes with common colds or flu being unable to take simple over-the-counter medicines 99% of people would take because of fears it contains banned substances like ephedrine in small amounts).
The Fancy Bear leaks indicated Serena Williams has been getting TUE’s for a banned steroidal substance for years, but why does the media not ask her more about that or question her results? Well…we know why (they fear being accused of being racist).
In any case, acting as if her record is tarnished retro-actively because of a later ban on something is absurd. If using oxygen chambers or blood platelet spinning were to be banned in the future, would people want to erase the records of Djokovic and Nadal? And I think her lack of success since 2017 is more down to age and persistent injury than lack of meldonium.
Well done Maria, and congrats on a great career. That 2004 Wimbledon win was one for the ages, and the one I’ll always remember her for most.
She had a great career, amazing accomplishments. Not everybody can say they have career grandslam (unless you are serena williams)…
Dear Marija,
Can you please cover all of Maria’s Nikecourt outfits from 2003? As a dedication for her as queen of on court style..
One of my favorite is her pink tutu dress from the ’06 RG..
Ian, why 2003 in particular? I’ve been covering her on-court style since 2007.
Just saw Masha on the television show Shark Tank last night and she actually teamed with Dallas Mavs owner Mark Cuban to invest in an upstart entrepreneur selling fashionable wrist weights. She will always be able to market her brand into the future.
Jim, I’ve seen some clips from the show on YouTube. Since I’m not familiar with the show, is the investment for real? When it comes to Maria’s entrepreneurial skills, I don’t doubt them one bit.
So funny to me how Sharapova’s fans copy her creepy obsession with Serena Williams.
The fact that she couldn’t win without PEDs speaks for itself. The only reason she got away with taking it for so long is because of the state-sponsored doping program where they kept changing the formulation to avoid WADA picking it up. Any athlete caught doping has their reputation tarnished, especially if you handle it as poorly as she did, trying to make herself into a victim. She conveniently “forgot” to read the email saying it was banned and she conveniently “forgot” to declare she was taking it all those years? Even though it was for “medical purposes”?? Give me a break.
Kind of sad she retired though as I enjoyed watching her lose first round every tournament lol