Shouldering it all, Maria has 'A mind of a champion'

Fellow players hail retired star for her spirit, impact despite all her difficulties

Maria Sharapova posing with the Suzanne Lenglen trophy near the Eiffel Tower after winning the 2014 French Open. PHOTOS: EPA-EFE, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Maria Sharapova posing with the Suzanne Lenglen trophy near the Eiffel Tower after winning the 2014 French Open. PHOTOS: EPA-EFE, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

PARIS • Maria Sharapova retired on Wednesday without a farewell tour or fanfare, but that did not stop the tributes from flowing in.

Novak Djokovic hailed the Russian superstar a "legend" with "the mind of a champion" after she announced that she would leave tennis at the age of 32.

The five-time Grand Slam champion and former world No. 1 called time on her career after losing a long-term battle with shoulder trouble having amassed a total of 36 WTA titles.

"Her impact on the sport, not just women's tennis, but tennis in general, was great. It still is great," said top-ranked Djokovic in Dubai, where he made the quarter-finals on Wednesday.

"She has the mind of a champion, someone that never gives up. She's shown that especially in the last five years. She had a lot of obstacles and difficulties, especially with her injuries and everything that she had to endure in order to give herself at least another chance to play competitive tennis."

Sharapova ended at world No. 373 - her lowest ranking since August 2002 - and lost in the opening round of her last three Grand Slam tournaments.

Her final competitive appearance was a straight-sets loss to Croatia's Donna Vekic at the Australian Open last month.

Sharapova revealed that her 6-1, 6-1 first-round defeat by Serena Williams at last year's US Open was the "final signal".

"Behind closed doors, 30 minutes before taking the court, I had a procedure to numb my shoulder to get through the match," she told Vanity Fair. "Shoulder injuries are nothing new for me - over time my tendons have frayed like a string."

Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, who knows the challenges of returning to competition since her career was stalled after a knife attack, commended Sharapova for always demanding more of her body than it would allow.

"She's been an amazing competitor, she never gives up," said the Czech. "Even if she didn't play well she was still believing in her game and still being aggressive and believing in her shots."

  • MARIA SHARAPOVA'S MILESTONES


  • 1

    Maria Sharapova was the first Russian woman to become world No. 1 in 2005.

    10

    She won the 2012 French Open title to become the 10th woman to complete a career Grand Slam.

    11

    For 11 straight years, Sharapova was ranked by Forbes as the highest-paid female athlete.

    13

    She won at least one singles title a year from 2003 until 2015 - a run bettered by only Steffi Graf, Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert.

    17 years, 75 days

    In 2004 (left), Sharapova became the youngest Wimbledon women's singles champion. She still holds that record.

    2012

    She became the first woman to bear the Russia flag in an Olympics opening ceremony and went on to win a silver medal in London.

    S$54m

    Her career prize money of US$38,777,962 is third-most in WTA history, behind Serena and Venus Williams.

WTA chief executive Steve Simon added: "She will be greatly missed by her millions of fans around the world, but I know this will also mark an exciting new beginning for Maria as she now focuses on her many business ventures, charitable activities and other outside interests."

Sharapova arguably made a more indelible mark off court.

She amassed US$325 million (S$453.4 million) in career earnings from prize money, endorsements and appearances, ranking second all-time among women, behind her longtime rival Williams (US$350 million).

Most of her sponsorship income came from companies like Nike and Evian. She also started her own candy company, which reportedly raked in revenues of around US$20 million last year.

Her annual earnings peaked at about US$30 million before her 2016 doping suspension for using meldonium, and has over 15 million followers on Facebook.

"She really helped the sport a lot because she brought a lot of attention to it," the 12-time Major champion Billie Jean King said.

"Not only was she a great player, she did very well off the court."

Sharapova is ready for new challenges and pleasures - for more time with her boyfriend, British businessman Alexander Gilkes, 40, and for her plans to study architecture later this year as well as focusing on growing her candy business. She will also feature in ABC's business reality television series Shark Tank today.

Sharapova said: "After 28 years... I'm ready to scale another mountain - to compete on a different type of terrain."

NYTIMES, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on February 28, 2020, with the headline Shouldering it all, Maria has 'A mind of a champion'. Subscribe