‘Tennis, I’m saying goodbye’: five-time Grand Slam champion Maria Sharapova retires

[phoenixikki]

Russian five-time Grand Slam champion Maria Sharapova has announced her retirement from tennis at the age of 32.
Sharapova broke the news to fans in a message on her Instagram account, along with a picture of herself holding a racket as a young girl.

“Tennis showed me the world – and it showed me what I was made of," Sharapova wrote.

"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.

“Tennis - I’m saying goodbye.”

Sharapova accompanied her retirement message with an article in Vanity Fair magazine, discussing her struggles with a persistent shoulder injury and writing: "My body had become a distraction."

In calling time on her gilded career, Sharapova leaves a sport in which she won five Major titles: two at the French Open, and one each at Wimbledon, the Australian Open and the US Open.

The first of those titles came on the grass courts of Wimbledon in 2004, when aged just 17 she stunned top seed and defending champion Serena Williams in the final.



That announced her arrival as a sporting superstar as she reached the heights of world number one, going on to win Grand Slams in New York in 2006, Melbourne in 2008, and the clay courts of Roland-Garros in 2012 and 2014. She also picked up a haul of 36 WTA tour titles.

Sharapova's fame rose rapidly in parallel off the court, as she picked up a lucrative series of sponsorhips which saw her top the charts as the high-earning female sports star for more than a decade.

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A great and classy player. Considering she won 5 slams in the Williams Sisters era, she was the real deal.

 

[Graves The Elder]

gorgeous, athletic, intelligent.
the perfect woman.

 

[LEWIS540]

Failed more drugs tests than Serena......


<Lmaoo> on every possible level.

 

[HereticBD]

This is just a side effect of having to say goodbye to steroids.

 

[Corona]

I’d be happy to give her another grand slam.

 

[Simple Southerner]

Farewell to one of her sports goats

 

[Takes_Two_To_Tango]

She's worth 195 million. I think she'll do fine.

 

[Skarr]

she had amazing talent, I wonder how much having to compete against two transgenders factored into her steroid use, its a shame that has tainted her career, shes absolutely gorgeous and always has been

 

[Xuh]

Good move, when your best days are behind you, it's wise to move on (something fighters really need to learn) and open up the next chapter in her life: My housewife.
She'd be great at stocking up the top shelves in my kitchen and dusting those hard-to-reach places.

 

[Xuh]

she had amazing talent, I wonder how much having to compete against two transgenders factored into her steroid use, its a shame that has tainted her career, shes absolutely gorgeous and always has been

she didn't take steroids lol,

that ban screwed a lot of athletes that year (I actually kind of suspect it was a political move to try and catch a lot of eastern bloc athletes in an olympic year), so much that WADA backtracked and didn't enforce the punishments for a lot of them until the year later. Islam Makachev was one such athelete 'caught' in similar circumstances (https://ufc.usada.org/islam-makhachev-accepts-finding-of-no-fault/) who had his ban quashed.
But I guess Tennis doesn't follow the same rules, so yeah it is a bit unfair it taints her career, when it was legal for most of it anyway, and there are plenty of western athletes who 'legally' abuse stronger drugs (everyone on the british cycling team seems to have a TUE for asthma for some reason, I wonder why...)

 

[Mamba Mentality]

Failed more drugs tests than Serena......


<Lmaoo> on every possible level.

At least she's a woman and is attractive. Lol at that Mike Tyson looking cry baby playing tennis.

 

[Graves The Elder]

Failed more drugs tests than Serena......


<Lmaoo> on every possible level.

lol, that's because the beast that is serena hid in her 'panic room' and wouldn't let testers into her house. she called the police and had them removed from her property. she avoided testing on numerous occasions. she's a fraud. the only bigger abuser of PEDs would be Lance himself.
and sharapova failed ONE test and it was for a prescription medication. god knows what serena used to become the hormonal nightmare that she is.

Tyson in a dress. LOL

 

[Amerikuracana]

She was far too loud to enjoy watching. It was ridiculous. It lasted until the other person hit the ball, and that's not classy. Serena hasn't been classy lately either; screaming and fist pumping about balls that hit the net and trickle over. Really trashy for somebody that should be leading the way at her age..

 

[Graves The Elder]

 

[CiH's Dog]

She was far too loud to enjoy watching. It was ridiculous. It lasted until the other person hit the ball, and that's not classy. Serena hasn't been classy lately either; screaming and fist pumping about balls that hit the net and trickle over. Really trashy for somebody that should be leading the way at her age..

Weird,

I used to pretend she was orgasiming and jerk off to her matches.

 

[Amerikuracana]

Weird,

I used to pretend she was orgasiming and jerk off to her matches.

I know that's a lie. It's not sexy.

 

[CiH's Dog]

I know that's a lie. It's not sexy.

It was sexy to me

 

[Madmick]

She and Serena are both cheaters.

Fuck 'em. Zero respect, here.

 

[Graves The Elder]

yea but it's a matter of degrees IMO.
if someone dopes 100 times and someone else dopes a single time
are they equivalent cheats?

 

[CiH's Dog]

She and Serena are both cheaters.

Fuck 'em. Zero respect, here.

No one holds much value in your opinion about anything