Maria Sharapova may have missed the US Open due to a shoulder injury but the most marketable woman in world sport hardly went unnoticed as she kept her personal profile high at strategic times during and after the fortnight.
By a fortuitous stroke of timing, New York’s Fashion Week follows directly on the heels of the Open. With Sharapova attending a few shows and making some well-timed PR and television appearances, the world No. 3 kept her name out there during the slack tennis time.
One of the 26-year-old’s stops was the launch of the Sugarpova Accessory Collection, which came a year after she started her own line of high-end Sugarpova candies. The player made an appearance in the city in support of her new venture, which augments the sweets with a personal line of fashion accessories, including hair, t-shirts and cosmetic cases at the upscale Henri Bendel store.
The collection, designed by Sharapova herself, features the cheeky lip logo already made highly visible by Sugarpova. “I’m a fashion girl at heart and I love accessories. [I was very involved in the design], as I know what I like to wear, but I also designed with the consumer in mind,” Sharapova told local media.
She also did a television interview with Larry King as well as making a guest appearance on the Chelsea Lately show.
For her tennis, the shoulder problem could well leave the grand slam event winner out of the mix through the end of the season, though Sharapova is reportedly working hard to try and be first for the year-end finals in Istanbul next month, the final edition in Turkey before moving to Singapore in 2014.
Topics: 10sballs, Maria Sharapova, Sports, Sugarpova, Tennis