‘She’s Isolated Herself’ – When Chris Evert Reacted to the Blatant Lack of Support From WTA Players Towards Maria Sharapova Over Her Meldonium Ban

Former Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova is one of the most popular tennis personalities in the world. After retirement, the 35-year-old has shifted her focus toward business. Currently, she owns a candy brand by the name ‘Sugarpova.’

During her illustrious career, Sharapova won all four Grand Slam titles. However, her time on the tour was full of challenges. In an injury-stricken career, she also went through a ban for consuming a banned substance. While the star tennis player pleaded her innocence, there was little support from the rest of the tennis fraternity.

Speaking on the situation, American tennis legend Chris Evert claimed that it was because Sharapova had no friends on the tennis circuit.

Why Sharapova didn’t get support from the tennis community?

When Sharapova failed the drug test, she gave valid medical reasons for taking the banned substance. However, she had to serve a 15-month ban from the WTA tour. During this period, she hardly received any support from other tennis players. Chris Evert felt that it was because the Russian didn’t make any friends on the tour during an interview with ESPN.

“It’s hard to tell (the reaction from players) because Maria Sharapova has always isolated herself from the rest of the tennis world, from the players. She doesn’t have a lot of close friendships on the tour. She’s made that known. She can’t be friends with the players. Her friendships are outside of the tennis world, she’s isolated herself. So it’s hard.” Evert said.

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Further, she said that the players might want to avoid any controversy by commenting on the matter.

“Whether it’s shock or whether they don’t want to become involved or have an opinion about it. It’s sort of surprising that not a lot of players have shown their support for her,” she added.

A look at the career of Maria Sharapova

The Russian broke into the mainstream when she won the Wimbledon Championships by defeating Serena Williams at a young age of 17. She rose to the rank of WTA number 1 and won 36 tour titles in her career.

She also has Five Grand Slam titles to her name. After serving her ban, she made a return to the court.

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However, it was short-lived as the Russian hung her rackets for good in 2020. Since her retirement, she has shifted her attention to her business ventures and has attained considerable success in the same. Notably, she famously appeared in the hit TV show ‘Shark Tank’, as a judge in an episode.