Maria Sharapova, The Forgotten Queen of Tennis

She is one of the ten women on this planet to hold a career Grand Slam, and also she is the only women from the largest country, Russia to accomplish this glory. Besides her WTA achievements, she also wrapped up the silver medal during the London Olympics in 2012. On her 14th birthday she was introduced to professional tennis, and since then she has been named as the highest-paid female athlete in the world for 11 consecutive years and earned nearly US$285 million. To no one’s surprise, she is Maria Yuryevna Sharapova who started her tennis career with a borrowed tennis racket at the age of four and later at the age of 18 she became the first Russian woman to become the World Number one tennis player.

Sharapova is now through to the fourth round at the Australian Open 2019. The Russian steamrolled over the reigning champion, Caroline Wozniacki. The Dane, who discarded her Slam-less World Number one title last year in Melbourne was thrashed out by the five-time Grand Slam champion on the Rod Laver Arena in the third round of the Australian Open 2019.

In the pre-quarters, Sharapova took on the Australian woman, Ashleigh Barty on her home-ground. She played an incredible opening set against the Australian and the unbelievable 21-shot rally in the third set left the audience in the Rod Laver Arena spellbound. Barty’s back-to-back service aces refused and winners refused Sharapova to adhere to her dominance in the match and ultimately conceded a 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 defeat in the hands of the 22-year-old, Australian who reaches her first ever Grand Slam quarterfinal.

The 31-year-old, Sharapova has been dwelling on the WTA circuit for almost 18 years now. Her drive on tour was topsy-turvy, but nevertheless, as a whole, she is always admired as an invincible tennis player. Later, her struggle with the injuries began, and despite that she went on to clinch the 2008 Australian Open by defeating Ana Ivanovic in the final and also she was not considered the favourite face of the tournament. Sharapova’s last Grand Slam title was picked up in the year 2014 at the French Open where she triumphed over Simona Halep in the finals. The tennis season 2016 had devastated the Russian, she was burdened by injuries and she a failed drug test from the 2016 Australian Open, in which she tested positive for meldonium. Consequently, Sharapova was suspended from the sport for five quarters of a year.

Everyone knows about her ascendancy on the WTA tour and how much revered she is, barring those victories, Sharapova is an astute businesswoman and she outnumbers the professional business-men when it comes to talking business. Six years ago, she invested $500,000 and began her candy company Sugarpova. And now, her candy brand is available in 22 countries and present in more than 50,000 locations. When it comes to business, she looks up to Facebook’s chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg.

Despite whining upon her suspension of tennis in the year 2016, she emphatically utilised her time while she was away from the tour. She took up summer courses at Havard Business School. She interned at the NBA and a London-based advertising agency. Also, Sharapova invested her wealth on a digital platform called, Chardy. She invested her time to develop her business skills and promoted her Sugarpova brand to the fullest.

As a 17-year-old, Sharapova won her premier Slam by defeating Serena Williams in the final of the 2004 Wimbledon. That win catapulted a new life which gave her exposures to new ventures of being a sportsperson and she was engaged with lucrative endorsements. Tennis is definitely Sharapova’s priority, which involves an endless number of training hours, tournaments and followed by ample of rest time. Considering her time constraint, she intelligently optimises her involvement in the sponsorship commitments.

Her off-court activities are in return setting up her career options once she wraps up with her travelling. Indeed, she is an example to the ATP and the WTA professionals who are contemplating their lives after they stop competing for the circuit. The 2017 US Open champion, Sloane Stephens revealed her opinion on Sharapova’s multitasking, “I think she’s right. She’s done so many amazing things in her career. She has some great companies, great partners. I think she’s done a really good job with that and I think people can look up to that and she’s hit the ground running, but while she was still playing. She didn’t wait until she stopped to get going, which is kind of cool”.

She has definitely been on the apex of her profession and numerous people globally admire her and enjoy watching her play. Undeniably, her aces have won many hearts. Besides her adroitness on the tennis court, she has been valuing her existence and making difference in other people’s lives. The Maria Sharapova Foundation dedicate themselves to help children around the world achieve their dreams. As the  Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), she has donated thousands of dollars for the welfare of the children and taking care of their education.