[imagesource: William West / AFP]

Cue Andrea Bocelli and Sarah Brightman’s Time to Say Goodbye.

Yesterday, 32-year-old Maria Sharapova announced her retirement, bringing to a close a journey that began when she was spotted by Martina Navratilova at a Moscow tennis clinic when she was just six, resulting in her family moving to Florida.

At the age of just 17, she won Wimbledon, having won three matches at the previous year’s event, and in doing so became the third-youngest woman to do so.

Some would say she delivered on her promise, winning five Grand Slam titles and sitting pretty at number one in the world rankings for quite some time.

Before we look at if that was really the case, we should let Maria say her own goodbye, which she did in a lengthy article on Vogue.

You can read the full article here, but I’ll pluck out some of her more poignant words:

How do you leave behind the only life you’ve ever known? How do you walk away from the courts you’ve trained on since you were a little girl, the game that you love—one which brought you untold tears and unspeakable joys—a sport where you found a family, along with fans who rallied behind you for more than 28 years?

I’m new to this, so please forgive me. Tennis—I’m saying goodbye.

Before we get to the end, though, let me start at the beginning. The first time I remember seeing a tennis court, my father was playing on it. I was four years old in Sochi, Russia—so small that my tiny legs were dangling off the bench I was sitting on…

The first courts I ever played on were uneven concrete with faded lines. Over time, they became muddy clay and the most gorgeous, manicured grass your feet could ever step upon. But never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d ever win on the sport’s biggest stages—and on every surface…

Throughout my career, ​“Is it worth it?”​ was never even a question—in the end, it always was. My mental fortitude has always been my strongest weapon. Even if my opponent was physically stronger, more confident—even just plain better—I could, and did, persevere…

Tennis showed me the world—and it showed me what I was made of. It’s how I tested myself and how I measured my growth. And so in whatever I might choose for my next chapter, my next mountain, I’ll still be pushing. I’ll still be climbing. I’ll still be growing.

As I said, that is just some of what she said. Below, you can watch her read out parts of her statement and offer some reflections:

Sharapova certainly isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, and she does leave behind a complex legacy.

As the Washington Post points out, the final five or so years of her career were blighted by controversy:

In 2016, she received a two-year ban after a positive test for meldonium, a substance that had been banned less than a month earlier and one she had taken for years (her suspension later was reduced to 15 months by an arbitration panel, which found she was not an “intentional doper”).

Sharapova, somewhat infamously, also struggled against Serena Williams as the American maintained her spot atop tennis’s hierarchy: After winning two of the first three matches they played, Sharapova lost the next 19. Their most recent meeting, in the first round of the 2019 U.S. Open, lasted only 58 minutes.

People love to call Maria and Serena’s duels a ‘rivalry’, but losing 19 times in succession, and finishing with a loss in under an hour, isn’t exactly a battle for tennis superiority.

In 2019, Sharapova only managed to play 15 matches, winning eight and losing seven, and she retires with a world ranking of 373.

If you’re talking about earning power, however, then a rivalry with Serena is a fair call. Last year, Sharapova ranked second on Forbes’ list of the world’s richest female athletes – behind Serena, naturally.

With an estimated net worth of around $195 million, she can be pleased with her efforts.

[sources:vogue&washpost]