Maria Sharapova had a high-profile professional tennis career that made her one of the highest-paid
athletes in the world. So how did she get her start, and how did she discover her love
of the game? Keep watching to witness her stunning transformation!
On April 19, 1987, in the remote village of Nyagan, Siberia, in the former Soviet Union,
Maria Sharapova made her big debut into the world. Alas, she and her family weren't exactly
happy in Nyagan due to its lack of amenities. As she recalled in an interview with DuJour
Magazine,
"I was born in an industrial little city that didn't have much life and was just not a great
environment to raise a child in."
Sharapova's parents had relocated there a year earlier at the behest of her grandparents
following the devastating nuclear disaster at Chernobyl. As Sharapova explained,
"My parents were living in Belarus at the time so my mother was very close to all the
radiation while being pregnant with me."
Four years after she was born, Sharapova moved with her parents to the coastal city of Sochi,
which had a lot more going on. However, the Soviet Union had just fallen apart, so things
weren't exactly idyllic.
Despite how difficult things were growing up in post-Soviet Russia, Sharapova did have
happy moments in her childhood, especially when it came to tennis. As she recalled in
an essay for Vanity Fair,
"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. So small that the racket I picked up next to me was twice my size."
Her diminutive size didn't stop the young Sharapova from pursuing tennis seriously,
and it quickly became clear that she was blessed with extraordinary athletic prowess. According
to her,
"When I first started playing, the girls on the other side of the net were always older,
taller, and stronger; the tennis greats I watched on TV seemed untouchable and out of
reach. But little by little, with every day of practice on the court, this almost mythical
world became more and more real."
Eventually, Sharapova realized that she wasn't so different from the top players, and her
dreams slowly started coming true.
"I've always wanted to just be a great player when I go out- when I step on court, you know,
I'm gonna fight."
When Maria Sharapova was 6 years old, she and her father packed up and left Sochi to
see if she had what it took to run with the big dogs. As she recalled to ABC News in 2019,
"We came to America with only $700, and while [my father] was trying to find ways to make
money, I was at the big sporting academy in Florida just getting better and improving."
Sharapova sharpened her skills at the famed Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy, where other
tennis giants like Venus and Serena Williams trained as well. And so did another tall blonde
Russian: Anna Kournikova, whose hand-me-downs found their way to Sharapova. Maria told DuJour
Magazine,
"I don't know how but I would end up with a lot of her old clothes. A lot of prints
and animal prints and glitter and definitely not things I would've chosen to wear when
I was 8 or 9 years old, but I didn't have a choice."
Moving to the United States and sacrificing everything they had for a tennis career may
have been difficult for Sharapova's family, but it was clear enough fairly soon after
they relocated that it was the right decision. In fact, Sharapova was so good at the game
that she turned pro at the tender age of 14. That's pretty young for any sport, although
not necessarily unheard of in one where teenagers have excelled at the highest levels. As her
coach Nick Bollettieri tells it, Sharapova's family did everything properly, allowing her
to grow and thrive in just the right conditions. As he told The Independent in 2004,
"[Her father] Yuri found the right people who could help his daughter become the best
tennis player possible. He has stayed right by her, giving her every support but crucially
he let [the coaches] get on with their job."
"Being successful, I really think that's great, because I'm young and not a lot of people
get to experience that."
A mere three years after turning pro, Sharapova showed the world what she was truly made of.
In 2004, at the age 17, she took down the legendary Serena Williams in straight sets
in the final of Wimbledon. As Sharapova recalled to The Guardian in 2010,
"It was a shock to me. I never thought I was physically and mentally ready to last two
weeks and seven matches against all kinds of opponents."
But indeed she was ready, and she took home one of the most coveted prizes in tennis when
all was said and done. Looking back, Sharapova remembers how happy and fearless she felt
after besting Williams to be crowned the champion. As she put it,
"Sometimes in life you get these little door openings, and I just took it and played some
great tennis."
After Sharapova's dramatic victory at Wimbledon, "Maria Mania" spread throughout the tennis
community. Suddenly everyone wanted to know everything about the young star as she became
world-famous overnight. As she recalled in an interview with Sportsnet in 2014,
"It was a tremendous victory, but also a very sudden amount of attention and responsibility.
I was quite young, and there was a very strong drive to push myself even harder. When you
accomplish a win at Wimbledon, the idea of what’s next becomes even more important."
While Sharapova enjoyed the attention and affection lavished upon her by the public,
she also felt overwhelmed. As she put it to Sportsnet,
"I'm a very private person, and while I'm happy to be included in so many red-carpet
moments, I do wish that's where the paparazzi following would end. They can be really invasive
of not only my privacy, but of my friends’ and family’s when we’re out together."
After her big win at Wimbledon, Sharapova continued to have an incredible professional
tennis career. She won trophies in plenty of tournaments and scored a number of sponsorship
deals. She's also one of the elite few players who has completed the career Grand Slam, which
consists of championship titles at the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, and the
U.S. Open. But it wasn't until 2012 that she took the Olympic stage for the first time.
As she told ESPN that year,
"It's incredible, not only to be a part of this event and be an Olympian, but to put
yourself in with an opportunity to go for gold. It's a really nice feeling."
Once again, Sharapova faced her rival Serena Williams in the finals after besting fellow
Russian Maria Kirilenko in the semis. As she noted to ESPN,
"Obviously it's tough to play a Russian on the other side of the net, but I'm happy that
one of us can go for gold."
Alas, a victory like the one at Wimbledon wasn't in the cards for Sharapova this time
around, as Williams took home the gold with a convincing straight-sets victory. Sharapova,
meanwhile, had to settle for the silver medal.
In 2016, Maria Sharapova found herself at the center of controversy, as she tested positive
for meldonium, a banned substance, which resulted in her being suspended from playing tennis
for two years. As she confessed to The Guardian in 2017,
"For the first hour, I thought it was a mistake. How did I not know? How did my team not know?
How did no one notify me? I started asking questions."
As it turned out, Sharapova wasn't doping intentionally, as her doctor had prescribed
the medication to her years ago. After she parted ways with him, she passed responsibility
onto her agent for not staying on top of things. When the truth became clear, Sharapova's ban
was reduced to 15 months. At that point, she could've gotten angry, but as she put it to
The Guardian,
"That would have been fair for me, but it wouldn't have changed anything [...] If there's
one person to get pissed at, for sure that would begin with myself."
"I just screamed down to the first floor to my mother that I'm coming back."
One silver lining that came out of the doping scandal was that Sharapova gained a new appreciation
of her fans. Before the incident, she wasn't exactly thrilled to have people asking her
for autographs and selfies. But with how supportive her fans were during her lowest time, it made
her truly comprehend how her admirers are living, breathing people who just want to
see her thrive. As she told The Guardian,
"That's one of the biggest reasons I've been able to come back [...] I just found people's
motive for coming up to me was more a message of support, not wanting something from me,
which was really heartwarming."
So how did Sharapova keep herself busy during her 15-month suspension? Instead of dwelling
on her bad fortune, she instead got to work on her candy company Sugarpova. As she told
ABC News,
"I worked on Sugarpova consistently. I was investing in a few different businesses so
I had time and then I got to spend the holidays at home which was such a treat for me."
That sounds like a nice break on both counts! Becoming an entrepreneur was a natural step
for Sharapova, as she'd been the face of various brands throughout her career, which spurred
her to get going on a company of her own. As she explained her thought process to ABC
News,
"I actually didn't say I think I can do this. It was more like I think I want to be a little
more competitive with this. I want to be the one that's making more decisions, better decisions
that can maybe benefit me in the long run."
"You almost need something in your life that, you know, keeps you maybe creative, keeps
you thinking."
Maria Sharapova and her father only had $700 when they first arrived in America back in
the 90s, but she's definitely added to her bank since then. In fact, according to Forbes,
she was the highest-paid female athlete in the world for 11 straight years. Much of that
was due to her lucrative sponsorship deals, though she's of course also won her fair share
of tennis prize money.
In fact, despite losing some sponsors due to her doping scandal, she's worth a cool
$180 million, according to CelebrityNetWorth.com, with luxury homes in Los Angeles and Florida.
That's a long way from Siberia!
In 2020, Maria Sharapova finally made the big decision to retire from professional tennis
after a nearly 20-year career. Naturally it was an emotional choice, one that she didn't
make lightly or without significant reflection. As she wrote in her Vanity Fair essay,
"In giving my life to tennis, tennis gave me a life. I'll miss it everyday [...] I’ll
miss the moments sitting with my father on the practice court bench. The handshakes — win
or lose — and the athletes, whether they knew it or not, who pushed me to be my best.”
Ultimately, Sharapova took into account her injuries and her ambitions outside of tennis,
which convinced her that it was time to step off of the court for good. She described her
tennis career as a "mountain," as it offered her all sorts of memorable perspectives. As
she wrote in her essay,
"My path has been filled with valleys and detours, but the views from its peak were
incredible. After 28 years and five Grand Slam titles, though, I'm ready to scale another
mountain — to compete on a different type of terrain."
Sharapova assured fans that she would continue to grow, no matter what her next chapter might
be. She also shared her plans to enjoy the small things in life more, like weekend getaways
and spending time with her family.
"Tennis, I'm saying goodbye."
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