Stardom at 17, a 'feud' with Serena, and a recent engagement: Inside the life of Maria Sharapova.

Maria Sharapova was just 18 when she was first dubbed world tennis number one.

In February 2020, she called time on her career after reaching that title five times, winning five Grand Slams, 36 titles, and being named the highest-paid female athlete in the world for 11 consecutive years.

Aged 33, Sharapova said it’s time to say goodbye to the sport that "showed me the world," telling Vanity Fair she is ready to "scale another mountain, to compete on a different type of terrain."

But the tennis great’s career hasn’t just been about trophies and titles – long dubbed the "ice queen" by the world’s media – a drug scandal in 2016 saw the Russian champion’s career buckle, and since then she’s struggled to reach the same dizzying heights she once dominated.

Watch: Maria Sharapova on the loneliness of sport. Post continues below

A "lonely" childhood.

Four-year-old Maria Sharapova loved to play tennis.

Born in Russia in 1987, Maria and her father Yuri fled a tumultuous post-Soviet Russia for Florida after her parents were told of her potential in the sport, and were recommended she train abroad.

With just AUD$1,000 in his pocket, Maria and her father moved countries, leaving her mother behind. She wasn’t able to join them for more than two years because of visa restrictions.

 

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Tennis showed me the world—and it showed me what I was made of. 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.

A post shared by  Maria Sharapova (@mariasharapova) on Feb 26, 2020 at 5:19am PST

Aged nine Maria got a scholarship to train at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy, but despite her natural skill, Maria grew up physically awkward – hanging from any beam she could find to try to make herself grow.

In her memoir she ponders if her height is down to the Chernobyl nuclear disaster: her mother was pregnant with her soon after, and "continued to drink the water and eat the vegetables," she writes.

Being separated from her mum took a toll.

"I used to be so lonely. I missed my mother terribly. My father was working as much as he could so he couldn’t see me either," Sharapova recalled in her memoir Unstoppable: My life so far.

Living and training with other kids was also tough. In her book, she talks of falling asleep much earlier than the other kids who were older than her, who, when they entered the room hours later, would wake her up and order her to clean up the space.

"I learned how to take care of myself. I never thought about quitting because I knew what I wanted. When you come from nothing and you have nothing, it makes you very hungry and determined. I would have put up with much more humiliation and insults than that in order to steadfastly pursue my dream," she wrote.

Dizzying career heights.

Maria turned professional on her 14th birthday, becoming the first Russian woman to ascend to the top of the tennis rankings.

She became a global star in 2004, when she won Wimbledon aged 17, upsetting top-seeded Serena Williams.

In Vanity Fair in February 2020, Maria wrote: "I didn’t understand the magnitude of my victory until I was older — and I’m glad I didn’t," explaining that her edge in the sport was never feeling like she was superior to other players.

"It was about feeling like I was on the verge of falling off a cliff — which is why I constantly returned to the court to figure out how to keep climbing."

She won the US Open the following year, catapulting her to world number one aged 18.

Her career went from strength to strength — she won 36 tour singles titles, an Olympic silver medal, and spent 21 weeks as world number one.

According to Forbes, she was the world's highest-earning female athlete for 11 consecutive years, earning the majority of her income from endorsements with companies like Nike and Evian.

In February 2020, Maria announced her retirement from the sport, having barely played in 2019 due to shoulder injuries.

"Tennis — I’m saying goodbye," she wrote on Instagram, and in her exclusive feature story in Vanity Fair.

Her sporting colleagues are hailing her a "legend" of the sport, with Novak Djokovic telling media in Dubai she has the "mind of a champion."

"Her impact on the sport, not just women's tennis, but tennis in general, was great. It still is great," he said.

Fellow tennis star and Wimbledon champion, Petra Kvitova, wrote on Twitter: "It was a pleasure to share the court with you @MariaSharapova. We always had great battles when we played and I have so much respect for your hard work and the way you always fight for everything."

It was a pleasure to share the court with you @MariaSharapova

We always had great battles when we played and I have so much respect for your hard work and the way you always fight for everything.

You have achieved a lot in your life so far and I know this is just the start ???? pic.twitter.com/PLi1Od4Eru

— Petra Kvitova (@Petra_Kvitova) February 26, 2020

Doping, injury and feuds.

Maria has been dogged by injury since 2007 when her shoulder trouble first emerged. A second shoulder injury in 2008 kept her sidelined for the second half of the season, and she missed the US Open and Beijing Olympics. It would be an injury that would follow her until retirement.

In 2016, at the Australian Open, she tested positive to prohibited heart drug meldonium and was banned from the sport for 15 months.

At the time she had not realised that meldonium, which she said she had taken for health issues throughout her career, had been added to the World Anti-Doping Agency's banned list.

She returned to tennis in April 2017 after being handed some wildcards which drew criticism from other players, including Andy Murray and Eugenie Bouchard, who said she should not have been allowed to return.

In a BBC interview in 2017, Maria denied cheating, and said: "I don't think it's for them to really have an opinion, because they don't have the facts. So, you know, I think that those are the types of words that make headlines and they will be used as headlines.

"But ultimately, this is my career, and I faced it head on, and I admitted my mistake, and I went about it and I served my suspension and now I'm back."

She also drew criticism from the media throughout her career, being tarred with the nickname "ice queen" early on.

The Guardian’s Kevin Mitchell wrote she "could freeze a room with her aloof grandeur" and "will be remembered as the ice queen of the sport, respected more than loved inside the game".

Tennis.com’s Steve Tignor described her career fall from grace as problematic, writing: "Instead of being remembered solely for her skill and her will, she leaves behind a cloudy, unresolved legacy, one that will likely always exist in the eye of the beholder."

Then there was the "feud", which also followed Maria throughout her career.

In her memoir, she mentions Serena Williams multiple times describing her as someone who has "marked the heights and the limits of my career — our stories are intertwined."

"It was Serena whom I beat in the Wimbledon final to emerge on the international stage at seventeen, and it’s Serena who’s given me the hardest time since," she added.

Serena dismissed the memoir's contents as "hearsay," adding that it was "a little disappointing".

Since her victory at the age of 17 and the rumour that Serena remarked: "I will never lose to that little b*tch again," afterwards in the locker room, the two tennis greats have been constantly compared.

Williams kept to her (rumoured) word, and by 2019 had beaten Maria Sharapova for the 19th straight time.

Word of a "feud" was fuelled by one of their infamous squabbles on the eve of Wimbledon 2013, when Serena told a press conference, "Maria starts every interview with: I'm happy or I'm lucky. It's a bore," to which Maria replied: "I have a great deal of respect for Serena and for what she managed to win. However, I think she should talk about her successes, rather than the whole rest," reported Tennis World USA.

"If she wants to talk about something personal, she could tell us about the relationship with a man who once divorced and who now also has a daughter. She could tell us this and not things that don't concern her," she continued.

Maria's retirement didn't come as a surprise to experts, with the former world number only playing two matches this year — losing in the first round of the Australian Open — sliding her ranking to 373.

From singers to tennis stars to Alexander.

As with any celebrity in the spotlight, Maria's dating life has always been tabloid fodder.

In 2008 she briefly dated lead singer of Maroon 5 Adam Levine, who she met at her 18th birthday party.

In 2005 she started dating fellow tennis player Andy Roddick, and the highly publicised couple were dubbed "Rodapova" after being seen frequently together at the 2006 US Open.

She went on to date TV producer Charlie Ebersol, basketball player Sasha Vujacic, and tennis player Grigor Dimitrov.

Maria has been dating British businessman Alexander Gilkes since 2018, who went to college with Prince Harry, and was previously married to fashion designer Misha Nonoo, the woman who introduced Harry and Meghan Markle.

 

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#hohoho #matching????

A post shared by  Alexander Gilkes (@gilkesa) on Dec 25, 2019 at 2:11pm PST

He's the owner and co-founder of Paddle8, an online auction platform for art and collectables, and was on the list of 100 Most Powerful People in the Art World three years consecutively.

"To the kindest and most professional person I know, here is to you Maria, and all that awaits you in your next chapter! May you continue to inspire us all with your deep humility, self-deprecation, strength and focus. As a remarkable first chapter closes with so many extraordinary fetes, we look forward to all that you will accomplish with equal grit in the years to come. Proudly and lovingly," he wrote on Instagram as news of Maria's retirement broke in February 2020.

 

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To the kindest and most professional person I know, here is to you Maria, and all that awaits you in your next chapter! May you continue to inspire us all with your deep humility, self-deprecation, strength and focus. As a remarkable first chapter closes with so many extraordinary fetes, we look forward to all that you will accomplish with equal grit in the years to come. Proudly and lovingly, xx ???? ——— “How do you leave behind the only life you’ve ever known? How do you walk away from the courts you’ve trained on since you were a little girl, the game that you love—one which brought you untold tears and unspeakable joys—a sport where you found a family, along with fans who rallied behind you for more than 28 years? I’m new to this, so please forgive me. Tennis—I’m saying goodbye.”

A post shared by  Alexander Gilkes (@gilkesa) on Feb 26, 2020 at 6:00am PST

The couple announced their engagement in December 2020.

"Thank you for making me a very very happy boy," Alexander said on Instagram. "I look forward to a lifetime of loving you, and learning from you @MariaSharpova."

Sharapova added: "I said yes from the first day we met. This was our little secret, wasn’t it @gilkesa."

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A post shared by Maria Sharapova (@mariasharapova)

Life after tennis.

In 2012, Maria opened her own candy company called "Sugarpova," which she opened to reflect her "sweet side."

"My dad would reward me with a lollipop or chocolate after a long day of practice," the athlete and entrepreneur explained on her candy company's website.

 

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My smile in this ???? is very much how I feel about our @sugarpova #povapopup shop this year in #Wimbledon. In just days, we turned it around from an old and dated newsstand shop to a chic, colorful candy lounge. Come stop by ( 12 Church Road) to get a tasting of our new truffles ????, along with complimentary @segafredouk ☕️ coffee and take fun boomerangs inside the ribbon wall display. I’ll be reposting some of my favorite images from the shop so don’t forget to tag ????????‍♀️ or @Sugarpova ????

A post shared by  Maria Sharapova (@mariasharapova) on Jul 1, 2018 at 6:24am PDT

Speaking to CNBC she explained that she started to think about life after tennis as early as 2008 when she suffered a shoulder injury that sidelined her.

"I was 21 years old, I didn’t know if I’d be able to play again," she told the broadcaster in 2015. "[It was the] first time I really started thinking about business and my own ventures."

Today, the athlete’s candy and chocolate line is available in 22 countries and Maria still incorporates a fun mix of tennis and sport into her designs and packaging, from her "sporty mix" to serving truffles in tennis ball containers.

Proceeds from the company go to the Maria Sharapova Foundation — a charity set up to help victims of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear accident from which her parents fled.

As she told CNBC in 2015: "[By 21] I had made enough money to not have to work for the rest of my life and be able to support my family and be very happy."

Numerous sources report her current net worth is sitting at around $135 million, which equates to AUD $206 million.

Feature Image: Getty.

This post was originally published on February 27, 2020, and updated on December 18, 2020.

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