Today, 32-year-old tennis superstar Maria Sharapova announced her retirement.
Sharapova posted a photo of herself practicing tennis as a child on her social media and wrote something like this:
"Tennis showed me the world and showed me the self I had portrayed. This is how I test myself and how I measure my growth. No matter how I choose the next chapter of my life, or the next mountain, I will still move forward, I will still climb, I will still grow. Tennis, I'm going to say goodbye. ”
After the retirement news was issued, it received 500,000 likes from netizens.
In her 28-year career, Sava has won five Grand Slam titles (Wimbledon 2004, US Open 2006, Australian Open 2008, French Open 2012, French Open 2014), won 36 WTA Tour singles titles, and has long been the brightest star in women's sports.
The shocking news of Kobe's death in the plane crash also made Sava begin to reflect on her career.
In an interview with The New York Times, she said she had made an appointment with Bryant to meet three days after the crash.
Kobe Bryant's sudden departure made her understand the really important things in life, "In that moment, I had more thinking about my future. ”
From the age of 4, Sava picked up her first racket in her native Russia.
By the age of 5, she had already made her mark and was trained in Moscow by tennis player Martina Navratilova.
Nafratilova saw Sava's indelible talent and always encouraged Sava's parents to take her to the United States for training.
When Sava was 6 years old, the family moved to Florida, USA. At that time, the family did not know English, and all the belongings were only $700, and they had to rely on their father's odd jobs to survive.
Throughout her teenage years, Sava spent her days in boring practice. The family could not afford to buy a car to take her to the tennis court, so she rode her bicycle to train, muscle soreness was no longer normal for this girl, and it was long accustomed to getting up before dawn to practice physical fitness.
The hard work was quickly rewarded.
In 2002, at the age of 15, Sava made her first appearance on the Women's Tennis Association Tour.
In 2004, at just 17 years old, Sava won the Wimbledon title. At that time, she had not even finished high school and was called a "genius girl" by the media.
On the field, she was the girl who desperately wanted to win, and the iconic roar shocked countless powerful opponents.
Since then, she has tested her talents and abilities along the way.
Behind the applause and applause from fans and the media, Sava has actually been suffering from shoulder injuries, and her physical condition has gradually made her unable to focus on the game.
The storm that broke out in March 2016 has been called a turning point in Sava's career.
Sava tested positive for the heart-protective drug mitrohydrazine. The drug, which aids blood flow and has advantages in cardiovascular performance, was banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency in early 2016 and Sava was banned for 15 months.
Sava explained that in 2006, a family doctor recommended mitrohydrazine for her to treat her magnesium deficiency and unsteady heartbeat, but she did not know that the drug had been listed as a banned drug.
The news caused a stir in the international tennis community.
At that time, Sava was worth about $125 million, which was the "highest-paid female athlete in the world" according to Forbes, and had won the title for 11 consecutive years.
After the drug ban incident, Nike, Porsche and other brands immediately froze the cooperation with her.
In 2017, she returned to the professional arena, but suffered frequent injuries and never reached her peak.
The last open match of Sava's career was at the Australian Open in 2020, when she lost to Croatia's Vikic in the first round.
Asked by reporters if this would be the last game of her career, Sava simply repeated: "I don't know..."
Less than a month after the competition, Sava announced her retirement.
When talking about retirement in Vanity Fair magazine, Sava also mentioned her old injury: "In the first half hour of playing, I had to do a set of physiotherapy to numb my shoulders to survive the whole game, the shoulder injury kept going, the longer it lasted, the more severe the tendon damage, I had several surgeries and spent countless days to recover. ”
"Tennis has given me life and I miss it every day... Looking back, I found that tennis was a mountain for me, full of valleys and detours all the way, but the view from the top of the mountain was stunning. ”
"Now, I sincerely look forward to a simple little thing in my future life: the peace of spending time with my family, enjoying my morning coffee, going on a willful weekend vacation, choosing what kind of exercise I want to do... Hello dance class! ”
Now, Sava's emotional world also belongs. Her British boyfriend, Alexander Gilkes, is a co-founder of an online auction company and is a millionaire according to media.
After Sava announced her retirement, he also wrote an affectionate text on Instagram:
"To the brightest and most professional person I know, Mary, to you. In the next chapter of your life, all the good things are waiting for you! May you continue to inspire us all with your humility, strength, and focus... I look forward to being able to accomplish everything with the same courage in the years to come. ”
Sava has previously said affectionately in an interview that she wants to be a mother, "When I have a child, I will personally tell my child that your mother was a champion, and I hope that my child can be proud of me." ”
At present, many people are speculating about where she will go after retiring, and some people guess that it may be related to fashion.
With a height of 188cm, Sava has always been very popular in the fashion circle, from vogue to instyle, has been on the cover of fashion magazines countless times, and has been invited to sit in the front row of fashion week with "witch head" Anna Wintur to watch the show.
Not long ago, during the 2020 New York Fashion Week, she also appeared in the front row of the Vera Wang show to watch the show:
During Paris Fashion Week 2019, she also went to givechy to see the show:
In addition, it has also been said that she may be involved in the business field. A few years ago, Sava founded her own confectionery brand, sugarpova, in Moscow.
"Growing up, my parents rewarded me with candy for my great performance on the pitch, and the smell of candy reminded me of my grandmother's kitchen in Russia."
In addition, she has invested in skin care companies, social media software, and gyms, among others.
In fact, before she announced her retirement, it can be seen from her ins that boring training and intense competitions have become less and less, and now it is more of a relaxing selfie.
Get together with old friends, put on magazine covers, see art exhibitions, travel and vacation ... That's her main life now.
After experiencing applause, flowers, sweat, and controversy, Maria Sharapova is undoubtedly a name worth remembering in the sports world.
Wishing you all the best for the future!
https://nypost.com/2020/02/26/kobe-bryant-heartbreak-helped-maria-sharapova-with-retirement-decision/
https://nypost.com/2016/03/29/why-everyone-in-tennis-hates-maria-sharapova/
https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/11046203/maria-sharapova-retires-tennis-32/