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HARAPOVA... IT IS NOW AS MARIA RETIRES AT 32
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dhe hatcry.” o adeers opad fg player she wasn’t only known for her prowess, but also her record-breaking grunts – in 2009 one was recorded at 109 decibels, only slightly lower than a chainsaw. Off court she was a major hit too, signing lucrative commercial endorsement deals for brands such as Porsche, Avon and luxury watch firm TAG Heuer.
Maria was named one of the 50 most beautiful celebrities in the world by People magazine and Hottest Athlete Of The Year for four years running by Maxim. She also posed in a sixpage bikini photoshoot spread in the 2006 Valentine’s Day issue of Sports Illustrated, alongside 25 supermodels. Maria dated celebrities including Maroon 5 singer Adam Levine and fellow tennis star Andy Roddick, and got engaged to Slovenian basketball player Sasha Vujacic after two years of dating in 2011. She later confirmed they had split in August 2012. She is now with wellconnected Brit Alexander Gilkes, who was previously married to Misha Nonoo, the fashion designer who brought Prince Harry Meghan Markle together.
In 2016, Maria tested positive for banned substance meldonium. She claimed she had taken it for 10 years for various health problems and, due to administrative failings, her team had noticed it had been added to the prohibited list.
She was suspened from playing for two years, reduced to 15 months on appeal.
Maria returned to the sport in April 2017, winning what would be her final career singles title at China’s Tianjin Open in October that year.
She also reached the quarter-finals at the 2018 French Open and the last 16 of and the Australian Open at the start of 2019. By then injuries had begun take a toll on her.
She admitted her body “had become a distraction” as she battled with the pain, which resulted in numbing treatments to her shoulder half an hour before hitting the court.
Maria also dropped to her lowest ranking since August 2002 – 373 in the world – and admitted a 6-0, 6-1 defeat to nemesis Serena was the “final signal” it was time to quit.
But Maria can hold her head high, leaving the sport with 36 singles titles, an Olympic silver medal and spending 21 weeks as world No1.
Now she says she is looking forward to a quieter life. “A sense of stillness with my family. Lingering over a morning cup of coffee. Unexpected weekend getaways. Workouts of my choice (hello, dance class!)”, she says. She will also carry on working on her line of sweets, Sugarpova.
“Tennis showed me the world – and it showed me what I was made of,” she added in a recent post to her 3.8million Instagram followers.
“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.”