This Day in 2020: Maria Sharapova declares her engagement to…
On this day in 2020, Maria Sharapova said in a Vanity Fair piece that she was “saying goodbye” to tennis. Five-time grand slam champion and former world number one Sharapova fell to 373rd in the rankings due to long-term severe shoulder issues.
The 32-year-old wrote, “How do you leave behind the only life you’ve ever known? It would be a wrench to walk away.” “How can you leave the courts where you’ve trained since you were a young child, the sport that you like and that has caused you innumerable tears and unfathomable joys, a sport where you’ve found a family and supporters who have supported you for over 28 years?
Only Serena and Venus Williams among her peers have won more grand slam singles championships than Sharapova, who made her name as one of the greats of her period in 2004 when she won Wimbledon at the tender age of 17. Before winning the Roland Garros trophy twice, in 2012 and 2014, Sharapova gained titles at the US Open and Australian Open in 2006 and 2008. Only ten women have accomplished the career Grand Slam, including her.
For the majority of her career, the Russian was the highest-paid female athlete in the world, therefore her off-court reputation overshadowed her on-court accomplishments. The shocking news broke in 2016 that she had failed a doping test for the heart medication meldonium, which had been placed on the prohibited list at the beginning of the year.
