Russian beauty Maria Sharapova, now a mother and entrepreneur, is known for her work ethic and thundering forehands. Along the way, she had many rivalries with her counterparts which excited fans and spectators for decades. However, after years of retirement, another facet of her personality has come to light recently.

Max Eisenbud, Marsha’s long-time agent divulging many funny and interesting anecdotes, told how Sharapova was kind to him. Even if it didn’t benefit her, the Russian helped Eisenbud sign a rival player.

Maria Sharapova’s Success Helped Max Eisenbud Sign Li Na

In a recent podcast with Andy Roddick called Served with Andy Roddick, super agent Max Eisenbud told how Maria Sharapova helped him sign the Chinese tennis star, Li Na. He reveals, “She said if this is good for your career I am all for it. As long as you don’t think it’ll be a conflict.”

He added, “I was always stressing out, I didn’t want them to be drawn together, I didn’t want them to be playing together. It was uncomfortable but both the girls were amazing and at the end of the day, Maria really cared for me. And did it because it was good for me and that is pretty special.”

Max Eisenbud further revealed that his success with Maria Sharapova was key in helping him secure a deal with Li Na. Calling the meeting quick and surprising he said, “So when I signed on with Li Na in 2009, I had this huge presentation. I met her at the Radisson Hotel meeting room. I had this huge presentation. I worked days, weeks on presenting it to her. She comes in the room and she’s like, um, you made Maria Sharapova rich. I’m gonna sign with you. That’s all she said to me. I’m like you don’t want to see the presentation. She’s like, no.”

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Now Maria Sharapova must have been kind to her agent but she has had many rivalries on the court. One such rivalry was with Li Na herself, because the Russian after all is best known for her fierce forehands.

Maria Sharapova Vs Li Na, The Rivalry

Sharapova and Li Na had a roller coaster of a rivalry that started in 2005. Sharapova won their first five matches dating back to 2005, including Li Na’s Grand Slam debut at the 2005 Australian Open. The Chinese tennis star could only win her first match against Sharapova, 4 years later in the 2009 Birmingham semifinal. Just around the time Max Eisendbud had signed her.

This started a series of four back-to-back wins against Sharapova when Li Na defeated Sharapova again in Birmingham in 2010, and then in the semifinals of the 2011 French Open, on her way to winning her first Grand Slam. At the Year-end Championships later that year, Li defeated Sharapova in the round-robin stage.

The last time these stalwarts met was in the 2014 Mutua Madrid Open quarterfinals, where again Sharapova cemented her greatness in the history of Tennis. Setting the record straight and winning the rivalry with a head-to-head statistic of 10-5 in favor of the Russian beauty, soon after which Li Na retired from tennis.