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A20 SPORTS
Thursday 27 February 2020
Sharapova retires from tennis at age 32 with 5 Slam titles

By HOWARD FENDRICH itive. All business." Sharapo-
AP Tennis Writer va burst onto the tennis
Maria Sharapova was a scene at 17 by upsetting
transcendent star in ten- Serena Williams to win Wim-
nis from the time she was a bledon in 2004. She would
teenager, someone whose beat Williams again at that
grit and groundstrokes year's season-ending tour
earned her a career Grand championship to improve
Slam and whose off-court to 2-1 against the Ameri-
success included millions can — and never won an-
of dollars more in endorse- other one of their match-
ment deals than prize mon- ups, dropping the next 19
ey. in a row.
And yet, Sharapova walked Powerful at the baseline,
away from her sport rather and famous for a never-
quietly Wednesday at the give-up attitude, Sharapo-
age of 32, ending a ca- va reached No. 1 for the
reer that featured five ma- first time at 18 in 2005. After
jor championships, time at adding her second major
No. 1 in the WTA rankings, a trophy at the U.S. Open the
15-month doping ban and following year, she collect-
plenty of problems with her In this Jule 7, 2014, file photo, Russia's Maria Sharapova reacts after defeating Romania's Simona ed an Australian Open title
right shoulder. Halep during their final match of the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland Garros stadium, in 2008, and then won the
There was no goodbye in Paris, France. French Open in 2012 and
tournament, no last mo- Associated Press 2014. Sharapova is one of
ment in the spotlight, for only six women in the pro-
someone so used to gar- who's a businesswoman. another operation on that fore walking on court for a fessional era to win each
nering so much attention And that's where the 'Maria joint in 2019. first-round exit at last year's major tennis title at least
for so long, with or without Sharapova brand' comes She lost the last four match- U.S. Open, writing: "I share once. She made 10 Grand
a racket in hand. into play." es she played at major this not to garner pity, but Slam finals in all, going 5-5;
"I've been pretty good in Around that time, she tournaments, with first- to paint my new reality: the last came in 2015 at the
the past, balancing my signed a "lifetime" contract round exits in her past three My body had become a Australian Open, where she
time with my sponsors with with a racket company, a appearances, including at distraction." Born in Russia, was the runner-up to Wil-
my tennis, because I know deal that eventually was the Australian Open in Jan- and "discovered" by Mar- liams.At the 2016 Australian
my priority. At the end of ended. And two weeks uary. That turned out to be tina Navratilova at an ex- Open, where Williams beat
the day, what I love doing after that, she would win the last match of her ca- hibition event in Moscow, her in the quarterfinals,
is competing, and that's the U.S. Open trophy while reer and made her 0-2 this Sharapova moved to Flor- Sharapova tested positive
where my heart is at: on wearing an outfit that re- season. ida as a child and trained for the newly banned drug
center court," Sharapova sembled a sparkly black In an essay written for Van- at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis meldonium.
said in a 2006 interview cocktail dress, part of the ity Fair and Vogue about Academy. After initially being given
with The Associated Press "couple of sides" persona her decision to retire, post- "We'll miss her, baby. She's a two-year suspension,
right before that year's U.S. she cultivated. ed online Wednesday, very special," Bollettieri told Sharapova appealed to
Open. Two years later, though, Sharapova asks: "How do the AP in an interview last the Court of Arbitration for
"There are a couple of Sharapova missed the tour- you leave behind the only year, when Sharapova re- Sport, which reduced the
sides of me," she said then. nament at Flushing Mead- life you've ever known?" turned to his academy as penalty, ruling she bore
"There's the Maria that's ows because she needed She disclosed that she "had she worked her way back "less than significant fault"
a tennis player. There's surgery on her shoulder, a procedure to numb my from her latest shoulder in the case and could not
the Maria that is a normal which has troubled her off shoulder to get through procedure. "The tour will "be considered to be an in-
girl. And there's the Maria and on ever since; she had the match" a half-hour be- miss her. ... Always compet- tentional doper."q
Top-ranked Djokovic, Tsitsipas

reach Dubai quarterfinals

DUBAI, United Arab Emir- and his run to the Austra- Lennard Struff, who need-
ates (AP) — Top-ranked lian Open title. ed just 39 minutes to ease
Novak Djokovic beat “It was a great perfor- past Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-1,
German veteran Philipp mance,” Djokovic said. “I 6-0.
Kohlschreiber 6-3, 6-1 enjoyed the way I played, Third-seeded Gael Monfils
Wednesday to reach the coming out with the right of France took his winning
quarterfinals of the Dubai focus and tactics.” streak to 11 matches by
Championships and re- Djokovic will next face ousting qualifier Yasutaka
main unbeaten in 2020. seventh-seeded Karen Uchiyama 6-1, 6-2. Monfils
Djokovic broke for a 4-2 Khachanov of Russia, who is coming off victories at
lead in the first set and beat Austrian qualifier Rotterdam and Montpel-
went 4-0 up in the second Dennis Novak 6-3, 6-4. lier.
Serbia's Novak Djokovic shoots the ball to Germany's Philipp before wrapping up the Second-seeded Stefanos He will face fellow French-
Kohlschreiber during a match of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis
Championship in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Wednesday, win in 59 minutes. The Serb Tsitsipas defeated Alex- man Richard Gasquet,
Feb. 26, 2020. is 15-0 this year, including ander Bublik 7-6 (1), 6-4 to who ousted No. 8 Benoit
Associated Press six wins at the ATP Cup set up a meeting with Jan- Paire 6-4, 6-4.q