Tennis star Maria Sharapova announces retirement at age 32.
Manatee County resident Maria Sharapova’s tennis career has come to a close. The 32-year-old Russian native announced her retirement from the sport in an essay published by Vanity Fair and Vogue.
Sharapova won five Grand Slam singles titles in her career that got jump-started as a 17-year-old in 2004 when she won Wimbledon over Serena Williams.
Sharapova wrote in the essay, “How do you leave behind the only life you’ve ever known? How do you walk away from the courts you’ve trained on since you were a little girl, the game that you love—one which brought you untold tears and unspeakable joys — a sport where you found a family, along with fans who rallied behind you for more than 28 years?
I’m new to this, so please forgive me. Tennis — I’m saying goodbye.”
Her 2004 Wimbeldon title catapulted Sharapova to more on-court success, where she won 36 WTA titles, and that translated into several endorsement deals over her career.
Rough patch
But her career on and off the court took a hit in 2016 when she was banned for two years for failing a drug test. Sharapova tested positive for a performance enhancing drug.
That moment, though, did not end Sharapova’s career despite the rumor mill suggesting she might walk away.
Instead, she returned when the suspension was reduced to 15 months. However, Sharapova only won once since her return.
In 2017, Sharapova said she “felt trapped” and “tricked” for failing the drug test, where she tested positive for meldonium, according to the Guardian.
“I knew meldonium as Mildronate, the brand name,” Sharapova told the Guardian. “It was a supplement I’d been taking for 10 years. It’s an over-the-counter supplement in Russia, so common that you don’t think of it as a drug, let alone a performance-enhancing one.”
Retirement realization
On Wednesday, she announced her retirement and explained how it started becoming apparent that her career was winding down. She wrote about what occurred at last August’s U.S. Open.
“Behind closed doors, thirty minutes before taking the court, I had a procedure to numb my shoulder to get through the match,” Sharapova wrote in her Vanity Fair essay. “Shoulder injuries are nothing new for me—over time my tendons have frayed like a string. I’ve had multiple surgeries—once in 2008; another procedure last year—and spent countless months in physical therapy. Just stepping onto the court that day felt like a final victory, when of course it should have been merely the first step toward victory. I share this not to garner pity, but to paint my new reality: My body had become a distraction.”
Sharapova won all four Grand Slam titles in her career, capturing the French Open twice. She came to the United States as a six-year-old with her father to train at Bradenton’s IMG Academy, which was made famous by legendary tennis coach Nick Bollettieri in the academy’s early years.
According to the Evening Standard, Sharapova retires with a net worth of $195 million.
This story was originally published February 26, 2020 at 12:34 PM.
