A TALE OF TRIUMPH & DISGRACE
A great champion, but Sharapova brand could not survive doping ban
OVER the last four years Maria Sharapova has been fighting for her brand and her legacy, and now that battle is over.
Vanity Fair and Vogue were her vehicles of choice yesterday when she announced that she was retiring from tennis after a career that brought with it triumph over early adversity, mountainous earnings and disgrace.
As her apparently self-penned, valedictory piece meandered through the ‘valleys and detours’ of her journey there was no mention of the 15-month doping suspension that was to effectively end her time as a player of great distinction, among the finest of her era.
It always appeared that this second phase of her career was about trying to preserve and burnish the memories of the first, not to mention the enormous riches which accompanied it.
The latter has come to an end, and she bows out with an aching shoulder and a ranking of 373, mixed among the wannabes, has-beens and never-weres of women’s tennis.
Sharapova, 32, made nearly $40million (£31m) in prize money, and many multiples of that from the corporations that once flocked to be associated with her combination of talent, beauty and titles.
In 2004, aged 17, she achieved worldwide fame by defeating Serena Williams to win the Wimbledon title, beginning what was, erroneously in pure tennis terms, often described as a rivalry. She only beat the American once more while losing 20 times. The two have cordially loathed each other, and Sharapova has put it down to this defeat.
In her autobiography she referred to the ‘guttural sobs’ she heard in the locker room from her vanquished opponent that day. ‘I think Serena hated me for being the skinny kid who beat her, against all odds, at Wimbledon,’ she concluded.
It had already been a remarkable journey for the russian. She was taken by her father as a young child to Florida after showing early promise at tennis.
Sharapova was to become world No 1 and win four more Grand Slams to complete a collection of titles at all the majors. Most impressively, two of these came at the French Open as she overcame an aversion to clay.
She hit from the baseline with intimidating power and an ear-splitting shriek, backed up by sheer tenacity. ‘ even if my opponent was physically stronger, more confident — even just plain better — I could, and did, persevere,’ she wrote yesterday.
That much was inarguable. Less so were her protestations of innocence when she failed a doping test after losing to Williams in the quarter-finals of the 2016
Australian Open, which she announced at a press conference almost exactly four years ago.
Sharapova insisted that she had been taking large quantities of meldonium for 10 years to combat various health issues. She had not declared it on various forms recording medication use.
She was unaware that late in 2015 the authorities had declared it illegal, having connected its performance-enhancing qualities with the large number of athletes who had also been consuming it.
She ended up serving a suspension, during which she strove to give the impression that everything was carrying on as usual. There were sponsor appearances, even an invitation to play a fundraising exhibition in Las vegas with ith th the lik likes of John McEnroe and Martina Navratilova.
A clumsy Pr campaign continued in the build-up to her return in April 2017 at Stuttgart, with the ban not expiring until after the tournament (backed by one of her main sponsors) actually began. Patsy interviews were lined up with sympathetic media, while those who did not toe the party line were excommunicated.
The restart was, initially, promising enough, but the record will show that she was not the same player without meldonium. She was not to breach the top 20 again, and only once progressed beyond the fourth found at a Grand Slam. The brand was not being resuscitated. Sharapova will now likely channel her drive into the world of business and other interests. Capable of exuding charm and possessing a quick wit, she will not lack a hinterland.
She is in a long-term relationship with an englishman, old etonian Alexander Gilkes, who works in the art world.
Her retirement deprives tennis of a major star name, one of several likely to depart the scene in the next two years. Others will, however, be able to leave with their heads held higher.