Sharapova leaves sour legacy
Maria Sharapova will be remembered for many things; one of them for making Serena Williams look like a dream to deal with.
Williams can be a prickly character after a loss and her excessive demands from tournament directors can cause them nightmares.
But Sharapova took the biscuit and there will be plenty who won’t miss the 32-year-old.
When Sharapova won Wimbledon at the age of 17 in 2004, she had the world at her feet.
She had the talent to dominate the sport and the looks to transcend tennis and onto the covers of fashion magazines around the world.
But 16 years later, as she announces her retirement from the sport she’s not instantly remembered for her five grand slam titles or for being one of the most aggressive baseliners of her generation.
As is the case for most sports men and women when they retire, they’re not so much remembered for what they achieved, but how they left their career and in the case of Sharapova it couldn’t have be much worse.
Sharapova was never well liked among other players in the locker room, she kept to herself and didn’t socialise, choosing to stick close to her own team.
So when she tested positive for meldonium at the 2016 Australian Open, it wasn’t surprising that there was little sympathy towards her from other players.
Jennifer Capriati said she should be stripped of all 35 titles she’d won and current players like Andy Murray, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal all criticised Sharapova and said she deserved to be banned.
There was also an outcry when tournament directors around the world tried to cash in on her comeback, giving her wildcards once her ban was over.
Murray said wildcards should be for players coming back from injuries, not doping offenders.
When she did start playing again, Sharapova was never the same.
Whether that’s because she was no longer taking meldonium is up for debate, but she did also have to battle shoulder problems.
But Sharapova remained a surly figure and continued to isolate herself.
A moment that typified her came in the first round at Wimbledon last year. She was playing Pauline Parmentier from France and was down 4-6 7-6 5-0.
Instead of allowing Parmentier to win one more game to take the match and enjoy the moment Sharapova retired with a tendon injury in her forearm.
When Parmentier decided to celebrate her win with a little dance, Sharapova criticised her on Twitter.
She retires ranked 373 in the world, only winning one of her last seven matches.
It was inevitable that the end was coming for Sharapova. She had become a novelty figure at tournaments, never looking like winning a title, but sure to pack out stands in the early rounds.
Her total of five grand slam wins puts her equal 11th during the open era, the same number as Martina Hingis.
Given that she won her first title so young, that haul is probably below what was expected.
But she did have to play during the same era as Serena Williams and the so-called rivalry between the two players was lopsided, with Williams winning 20 of the 22 matchups.
Sharapova ended up making far more money from endorsements than she did on a tennis court. Over her career she picked up $61 million in prize money and, according to Forbes, is worth $309m.
So there’s no final fond farewell for Sharapova as there was with Caroline Wozniacki, who chose to play the ASB Classic and Australian Open after making the decision to retire, where the fans and other players got to say their goodbyes.
There are no video tributes as there were prematurely for Murray at the 2019 Australian Open, where the greats of the game line up to talk about how much they admire him.
No, Sharapova will quietly disappear and the tennis world will move on, without giving her a second thought.
Sharapova was never well liked among other players in the locker room, she kept to herself and didn’t socialise.