Maria Sharapova Falls Just Short of Long-Time Rival Serena Williams in an Elite Popularity List

Being a prominent athlete during her playing days, Maria Sharapova rightly succeeded in building a huge fan base. Despite not being active on the tour anymore, she continues to be an elite entity when talking about influence on social media. The proof of it is her name in a recently released list about the Global Awareness of Female Athletes.

Going back to her active days, Sharapova had numerous on-court rivalries. However, one that often topped the list was her rivalry with Serena Williams. Even though Sharapova won merely 10% of their total clashes, a match between the two was always highly anticipated. Three years after their last clash, Sharapova and Serena are back on the same page. However, this time not on the tennis court but on the mentioned list.

Maria Sharapova shares an elite list with Serena Williams

Every year, numerous media publications release various lists based on their extensive research. This time was no different. Recently, the financial publication, The Economist, released a list mentioning elite female athletes arranged in the order of their global awareness. Topping the list was the American sensation, the soon to be retiring Serena Williams.

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Looking at Serena’s aura, it is needless to say that it almost seems impossible to get even close to it, let alone matching it. However, the list showed a different picture. Following closely on the second spot was the former World No.1 and the winner of 5 Grand Slam titles, Maria Sharapova.

The list came to light when Sharapova shared it on her social media handle. Recently, the Russian sensation opened doors for a Q&A session with her fans. Uploading a story on her Instagram account, she wrote, ‘Let’s chit chat…any questions?’ Responding to Sharapova’s story, a fan wrote, “Random one…but when was the last time you read an article with your name in it.” Answering back to the fan, Sharapova shared the photo of the list, captioning it, “Yesterday, in ‘The Economist.'”

While Sharapova and Serena took the top two spots, on the third spot was Naomi Osaka. The 4-time Grand Slam champion was followed by gymnastics sensation, Simone Biles in fourth, and former Alpine Ski racer, Lindsey Vonn in the fifth spot. Other tennis players who made it to the list were Simona Halep and Angelique Kerber.