It felt like an end of an era when Maria Sharapova announced her retirement from tennis. She broke the news during an interview with Vogue and apologized to all her fans for hanging her racquets. In recent years, the Russian ace has been tackling with a string of injuries, and hitting the ball hard was turning out to be a big challenge.
During the chat with World Number one Novak Djokovic on Instagram, she explained the battle which she was fighting with her body.
“To be honest, I was very stubborn in the past couple of years with my body… I struggled a lot with it because I kept thinking that it would a hurdle I could pass, and I could get better,” she told Novak during their LIVE session.
Maria Sharapova on her transition
Certainly, she’s enjoying the transition period, wherein she’ll be venturing into new endeavors besides professional tennis. Also, she isn’t doing any intense physical activities and resting to the fullest.
“It’s been somewhat of transitional relief that I’m not putting my body through that anymore… There are some things that are still a part of me that I carry through in this transition. And some of it I’m ready to let go.”
Maria was ready to explore new ventures, by unfortunately amidst the pandemic his home-quarantined with her parents in California, USA.
“I was ready for the transition and I think I set up a really good base for myself… I’d say the transition is different than I thought it would be because of what we’re all facing in today’s environment,” she added.
Maria Sharapova’s last victory on the WTA Tour came against Alison Riske in the first round of Cincinnati Open 2019. That year, due to injuries Sharapova retired from a string of tournaments. She played her last career-match against Donna Vekic at Australian Open 2020.
