أعلنت الروسية ماريا شارابوفا (32 عاماً) الأربعاء اعتزالها منافسات كرة المضرب بعد مسيرة تصدرت خلالها تصنيف المحترفات وأحرزت خمسة ألقاب في البطولات الكبرى، وذلك في مقالٍ نشرته في مجلتي «فوغ» و«فانيتي فير».
وكتبت شارابوفا: «كيف تتركين خلفك الحياة التي لم تعرفي غيرها؟ كيف تبتعدين عن الملاعب التي تدربت عليها مذ كنتِ طفلة، اللعبة التي تحبينها، التي تسببت لك بدموع وأفراح لا توصف، رياضة عثرتي فيها على عائلة ومشجعين وقفوا خلفك لأكثر من 28 عاماً؟ هذا جديد بالنسبة إلي، لذا اعذروني. يا كرة المضرب، وداعاً».
وتابعت: «كرة المضرب كانت جبلاً بالنسبة إلي. على طريقي واجهت الوديان والانعطافات، لكن المشاهد من القمة كانت مذهلة. بعد 28 عاماً وخمسة ألقاب في الـ(غراند سلام)، أنا مستعدة لتسلق جبل آخر، للمنافسة على أرضية مختلفة»، حسبما ذكر تقرير لوكالة الصحافة الفرنسية.
وأضافت: «أعطيت حياتي لكرة المضرب، وكرة المضرب أعطتني حياة. سأفتقدها كل يوم. سأشتاق للتمرين وجدولي اليومي: الاستيقاظ عند الفجر، ربط شريط حذائي الأيسر قبل الأيمن، وإقفال بوابة الملعب قبل أن أضرب الكرة الأولى في اليوم. سأشتاق إلى فريقي، إلى مدربي (…) المصافحات بعد الفوز أو الخسارة، وكل الرياضيين، سواء عرفتهم أم لا، الذين دفعوني لتقديم أفضل ما لدي».
وتوجت شارابوفا بخمسة ألقاب كبيرة، بدءاً من تتويجها الأول في بطولة ويمبلدون الإنجليزية عام 2004 وهي مراهقة في السابعة عشرة من العمر، لتضيف بعدها فلاشينغ ميدوز الأميركية (2006)، وأستراليا المفتوحة (2008)، ولقب رولان غاروس الفرنسية مرتين في 2012 و2014.
لكن مسيرتها توقفت بشكل مفاجئ في عام 2016. بعد فحص منشطات إيجابي على هامش بطولة أستراليا، مما أدى إلى إيقافها 15 شهراً.
وبعد عودتها إلى الملاعب، لم تستعد شارابوفا مستواها المعهود، وهي تراجعت حالياً إلى المركز 373 في تصنيف اللاعبات المحترفات.
وغابت الروسية التي لا تزال من أبرز الوجوه المعروفة في عالم اللعبة، لفترات طويلة عن موسم الكرة الصفراء العام الماضي بسبب آلام مزمنة في الكتف. وانعكس ذلك سلباً على نتائجها، حيث خرجت من الدور الأول في آخر ثلاث بطولات كبرى شاركت فيها، وهي «ويمبلدون» و«فلاشينغ ميدوز» 2019. و«أستراليا المفتوحة» في يناير (كانون الثاني) الماضي.
By MIKE DICKSON TENNIS CORRESPONDENT FOR MAILONLINE
Maria Sharapova has given up the uneven struggle against injury and announced she has finished with tennis at the age of 32 in an emotional open letter in Vanity Fair.
After a career that yielded five Grand Slam titles, hundreds of millions of earnings and a reputation that became severely tarnished, she revealed her retirement through the pages of the magazine.
She will be remembered for her major wins, her relentless baseline hitting delivered with a piercing shriek and failing a drugs test at the 2016 Australian Open.
The 32-year-old Russian said: ‘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.
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Five-time Grand Slam winner Maria Sharapova celebrates winning Wimbledon in 2004
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Sharapova became a superstar early in her career having claimed the Wimbledon title aged 17
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Sharapova (middle), with her mother Yelena (left) and father Yuri (right), moved from Nyagan, Russia, to the United States at the age of six to help progress her tennis career in Florida
‘I share this not to garner pity, but to paint my new reality: My body had become a distraction. Throughout my career, Is it worth it? was never even a question — in the end, it always was.’
On Instagram, accompanying a photo of her as a young child on the tennis court, she added: ‘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.’
MARIA SHARAPOVA CAREER CV
Career high ranking: No 1
Current ranking: No 373
Career prize money: £30million
Total wins: 645
Total defeats: 171
Total number of titles: 36
Grand Slam titles: Wimbledon (2004), US Open (2006), Australian Open (2008), French Open (2012, 2014)
She burst to prominence by winning the 2004 Wimbledon final as a 17-year-old against Serena Williams, who was to become a bitter rival, even though the American ended up with a crushingly superior head-to-head record in their encounters.
The Russian was taken by her father to Florida as a child to hone her tennis game with the family having just $700 (£540) in hand.
Nick Bollettieri was the man who created the idea of a tennis boarding school and he played a key role in Sharapova’s development into a future Grand Slam champion.
Andre Agassi, Venus and Serena Williams and Martina Hingis all worked under Bollettieri to develop their game.
The move to the United States was to make the most of her ability and the facilities in Florida even turned her into a French Open champion, despite being no natural on the clay courts.
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Sharapova announced her retirement from tennis at the age of 32 on Wednesday afternoon
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She followed up her announcement with a picture of her as a young player playing tennis
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The Russian drops to her knees after clinching her first ever Grand Slam title at Wimbledon
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Part of her decision was that she admits her ‘body has become a distraction’ with injury
Happy to admit that she saw her peers as competitors rather than friends, she became known for her aloof attitude in the locker room.
There was little sympathy from fellow players, therefore, when she tested positive for newly-outlawed Meldonium after making the quarter finals in Melbourne four years ago.
She was to serve a 15-month ban and the record will show that she was never the same player without the assistance of the banned substance, failing to make the top 20 after her return in April 2017.
Sharapova has been a prominent figure off the court as well as on it, enjoying high-profile relationships.
She dated Marron 5 singer Adam Levine in 2005 before later dating former Los Angeles Lakers shooting guard Sasha Vujacic.
Repeat shoulder issues, a long-standing problem, were among the injuries that plagued her and with a plummeting ranking she has decided to call it a day.
She admitted that her 6-1, 6-1 humbling to Serena Williams at the 2019 US Open was the ‘final signal’ it was time to retire.
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Her success since moving to Florida translated into youth tournaments as she posed for photos in 2002 having finished as runner up in the girls singles event at the Australian Open
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Titles followed as a professional and she wore a wide smile as she lifted the 2006 US Open singles trophy (left) and then showed her growth on clay by winning two French Open’s (right)
‘Behind closed doors, 30 minutes before taking the court, I had a procedure to numb my shoulder to get through the match,’ she added.
‘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 on to the court that day felt like a final victory, when of course it should have been merely the first step toward victory.’
In a retirement interview with the New York Times, Sharapova revealed that she was due to meet Kobe Bryant, who had become a sounding board for her while she accepted her injuries, before he tragically died in a helicopter crash on January 26.
Her last appearance at a Grand Slam saw her exit in the first round of the Australian Open, losing to Donna Vekic, and that ensured her ranking dropped to 373 in the world.
She has played only twice in 2020, including that loss to Vekic in Melbourne. And for the former world No 1, her persistent shoulder injuries, and struggles to go deep into major tournaments, has pushed her to call time on her tennis career.
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Sharapova speaks out at a press conference after testing positive for meldonium in 2016
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Her final match at a Grand Slam came in a straight sets defeat to Donna Vekic in Australia
Her boyfriend Alexander Gilkes paid tribute to the bravery of Sharapova in making the decision to retire.
On his Instagram page, Gilkes wrote: ‘To the kindest and most professional person I know, here is to you Maria, and all that awaits you in your next chapter! May you continue to inspire us all with your deep humility, self-depreciation, strength and focus.
‘As a remarkable first chapter closes with so many extraordinary fetes, we look forward to all that you will accomplish with equal grit in the years to come. Proudly and lovingly.’
Part of Sharapova’s focus will now turn to business and managing her successful confectionery company, Sugarpova. The company was set up in 2012 and has become hugely successful.
Her fragrance company ‘Maria Sharapova Beauty & Power’ is another lucrative area of her growing business portfolio. In 2018, Forbes estimated that Sharapova’s business empire was worth $195m (£151m).
Maria Sharapova was the cover girl tennis star who won Wimbledon at 17, dated the rich and famous and was embroiled in a drugs scandal… all after her family had fled Belarus to avoid the impact of Chernobyl
Ever since she shocked Serena Williams to win Wimbledon as an unknown 17-year-old, Maria Sharapova has rarely been out of the spotlight – on or off the court.
Her decision to retire from tennis on Wednesday means the end of a career for one of the game’s true bona fide stars who transcends the world of tennis.
It was immediately obvious there was more to Sharapova than just powerful groundstrokes when, after dismantling Williams all those years ago, she stunned onlookers by climbing into the crowd on Centre Court to embrace her family and called her mother to celebrate.
Sharapova was born in Siberia after her parents moved away from Belarus in fear of the repercussions from the Chernobyl disaster. Thanks to advice from tennis legend Martina Navratilova, Sharapova and her father Yuri moved to Florida when she was just six to step up her tennis coaching.
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After stunning Serena Williams to win Wimbledon in 2004, she went to celebrate with her box
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Her dad Yuri (right) plants a kiss on Sharapova’s cheek after she won her first Grand Slam title, 11 years after the decision was made to move the family from Russia to the United States
Unable to speak English, Sharapova’s mother was unable to join them for two years but that call from the Centre Court was just reward for their sacrifices.
After that famous win she became an overnight sensation and that was the catalyst for a successful career both on and off the court. Sharapova quickly became the face of global brands, including Nike, Porsche and Evian, and was a cover star for Teen Vogue magazine.
Her love life became of particular interest to fans and just a year after her stunning upset at Wimbledon, Sharapova was dating Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine following a rumoured meeting at her 18th birthday party.
It did not last long though and her next romance was with someone slightly closer to home. Talk was rife during the 2006 US Open that Sharapova and Andy Roddick were together but again things went south quickly.
She also dated Charlie Ebersol briefly before engaging in a three-year relationship with basketball player Sasha Vujacic. They were serious and even got engaged in 2010 before breaking up after two years.
Sharapova dated Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine after they met at her 18th birthday party
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Sharapova was engaged in 2010 to former Los Angeles Lakers player Sasha Vujacic (left) but it was broken off and the relationship ended permanently two years following the engagement
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The 32-year-old (right) is now in a relationship with British businessman Alexander Gilkes (left)
Sharapova returned to the tennis dating scene with Bulgarian player Grigor Dimitrov after catching his eye during a match in 2013. Things didn’t last long again with Dimitrov, who also went out with rival Serena Williams, and they broke up two years later.
She is now dating British business man Alexander Gilkes, the co-founder of online auction platform Paddle8 and they have been together since 2018.
It is well know that her contemporaries in the women’s game have often found Sharapova cold and unfriendly. Nobody more so than Williams, with whom Sharapova has had a long-running feud ever since that Saturday at SW19 over a decade ago.
There was certainly tension between then pair but on court it was Williams who was the dominant force, with the American winning 19 straight matches against Sharapova dating back to 2004.
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Business is a key part of her focus off the court as she shows off her ‘Beauty & Power’ fragrance
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Focus in life after tennis will be on confectionery company, Sugarpova, which she set up in 2012 having already grown concerned that injuries cut see her sporting career ended early
Writing in her autobiography, ‘Unstoppable: My Life So Far’, Sharapova said: ‘I think Serena hated me for being the skinny kid who beat her, against all odds, at Wimbledon.’
Agonising shoulder pain put paid to her best days on court while a 15-month suspension in 2016 for testing positive for cardiac drug Meldonium saw her spotlight dim massively.
In recent years, Sharapova has made the most of her position in sports to launch business interests, including the launch of her sweet and chocolate line Sugarpova.
Her portfolio also includes investment in UFC, sun cream brand Supergoop and an app that allows normal folk to message celebrities. It sounds like there will be plenty to keep her occupied as she puts her racket down for good.