‘Shoulder Is Hanging on a String’ – Maria Sharapova Says She Tried Playing Tennis After Retirement

Former World no.1 from Russia, Maria Sharapova rose to fame when she won her first Grand Slam title at Wimbledon in 2014. After that, she won five more Grand Slam titles, which was truly a great achievement for her. 

However, Maria could have won more Grand Slam titles if it wasn’t for injuries and controversies. The later stage of her career was marked by various types of injuries. Finally, in 2020, Maria decided to hang up her racket for good. Recently, she talked about playing tennis a few times, which didn’t go well for the Russian.

Maria Sharapova tried to play tennis after retirement

In a recent podcast, Sharapova revealed that she tried to play tennis probably three times after retirement. Unfortunately, her shoulder didn’t do her any favor. However, she also revealed that she misses some aspects of playing tennis like a pro.

“I probably played like three times (laughs). My shoulder is hanging on a string at the moment which I should probably take care of, but it’s kind of the last thing on my mind in the past eighteen months since retiring. It’s interesting, I left it on such healthy and comfortable terms, there’s like a part of me that is like moments of it that I miss, I miss the discipline and that repetition in waking up and putting on my sports gear and my outfit because that was my uniform and my armor,” Sharapova talked about missing tennis after retirement. 

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She also talked about wearing her tennis gear, as she said, “I know it’s just clothing and it’s something you put on, but gosh, the impact that I’d feel when I would wear the shoes, I would feel like an athlete and it’s a different mindset. I still miss that.”

Maria had early success in her career

In 2001, Sharapova turned pro, at the age of just 14. Three years later, she won her first-ever Grand Slam title at Wimbledon after beating Serena Williams in the final. Then, in 2006 and 2008, she won the US Open and the Australian Open, respectively. 

After that, she missed almost a year with injury, and she didn’t win any slam for nearly four years. However, she finally won the French Open in 2012 to achieve a career in Grand Slam.

Later, in 2016, she was suspended for two years for taking a banned substance as a medication for heart. Upon appeal, ITF (International Tennis Federation) reduced her ban to 15 months. After coming back on the tour, she could not find her previous form anymore and decided to retire from professional tennis in 2020. 

Do you miss watching Sharapova play? Let us know in the comments. 

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