In 2002, 15-year-old rising tennis star Maria Sharapova said she “would like to be one of the greatest players out there.” She won at Wimbledon two years later and became world No. 1 under a year after that. She exceeded her own expectations, but a decade later, she drenched her name and any impending legacy in disgrace.
On Jan. 26, 2016, Sharapova failed a drug test for the performance-enhancing meldonium, which had been banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency just 25 days earlier. She was then suspended from the professional tour for 15 months. Already having won five major titles, earning a career Grand Slam and practically cementing her spot in the International Tennis Hall of Fame, Sharapova blew it. She’ll now only be remembered for her faults — almost literally since she could hardly serve upon her return to the tour — and rightfully so.
Even though Sharapova cited an ongoing shoulder injury as her reason for retirement when she officially announced it on Wednesday, Feb. 26, she knows she wasn’t completing much, at least in Grand Slams anyway. She slithered her way back into the top 25 in 2018, but she suffered a lot of early tournament exits. The arrogance she formed a decade ago wasn’t enough to keep her around.
Sharapova will also always be remembered for thinking she’s one of Serena Williams’ fiercest competitors yet having one of the historically worst head-to-head records with her: 20-3, the last win from Sharapova being a retirement from Williams. Sharapova hasn’t actually beaten Williams since she did it twice in 2004, one of the times being that Wimbledon final. Any win over Williams deserves praise, but Sharapova ruined that, too.
Sharpova wrote a memoir, Unstoppable: My Life so Far, in 2017. In it, she said, “I think Serena hated me for being the skinny kid who beat her, against all odds, at Wimbledon.” Williams blasted back, saying it was “100 percent hearsay,” but it’s not like it matters. A 23-time major champion, otherwise known as the G.O.A.T., has beaten her 18 other times, and she would do it if she were forced to meet across the net again.
Maybe if Sharapova had brought back even a hint of that spark upon her return, she could be forgiven. But she didn’t. The game is now much better off without an arrogant cheater who doesn’t deserve any of the titles she holds. Deep down, Sharapova knows that, too, but she’ll keep it inside. She doesn’t want to prove her 15-year-old self wrong.
Bre Callahan 