Maria Sharapova, the five-time Grand Slam champion who became one of the highest paid sportswomen in the world, announced her retirement at the age of 32 on Wednesday.
Florida-based Sharapova, hailing from Russia, whose Wimbledon victory in 2004 at the age of 17, propelled her to superstardom, broke the news in an article for Vanity Fair.
“I’m new to this, so please forgive me. Tennis — I’m saying goodbye,” Sharapova said.
Her decision is hardly a major surprise as she has struggled with injuries and poor form since returning from a 15-month drugs ban in 2017, the result of testing positive for meldonium at the 2016 Australian Open.
The former world No. 1 has played only two matches this year, losing in the first round of the Australian Open, with her ranking sliding to 373.
“Looking back now, I realise that tennis has been my mountain. My path has been filled with valleys and detours, but the views from its peak were incredible,” she said. “After 28 years and five Grand Slam titles, though, I’m ready to scale another mountain.”
Sharapova shot to fame as a giggly 17-year-old Wimbledon winner in 2004, the third-youngest player to conquer the All England Club’s hallowed grass courts. She became world No.1 in 2005 and won the US Open the next year.
“One of the keys to my success was that I never looked back and I never looked forward,” Sharapova said on Wednesday. “I believed that if I kept grinding and grinding, I could push myself to an incredible place.”
But in 2007 Sharapova began her long on-off battle with shoulder injuries. She would win the 2008 Australian Open before a second shoulder injury kept her off tour for the second half of the season. In 2012, she captured the French Open to become the 10th woman to complete a career Grand Slam, and then added Olympic silver to her resume that year.
Always a fighter — the seven-year-old Maria and father Yuri left for the US in 1994 with just a borrowed $700 to their names — Sharapova returned to the sport in 2017.
“In giving my life to tennis, tennis gave me a life,” Sharapova said in her retirement missive. “I’ll miss it everyday.”
