Maria Sharapova Discusses Her Opinions

Written by: Staff on 27th March 2014

Maria Sharapova Discusses Her Opinions

epa04136875 Maria Sharapova of Russia returns the ball to Lucie Safarova of Czech Republic during their match at the Sony Open tennis tournament on Key Biscayne in Miami, Florida, USA, 22 March 2014 EPA/RHONA WISE |

Maria Sharapova thinks today’s teenage phenoms have it tougher than when she won Wimbledon as a 17-year-old in 2004.

Sharapova has not only won three more grand slam events since then, but translated her early success into a multi-million dollar endorsement and commercial portfolio. She is now said to be the world’s highest-paid female athlete with earnings of $29 million per year.

The Russian credits the successful management of her career with the way she and her team handled that Wimbledon victory and the attention that followed.

“I’m so happy with the directions and decisions that not only I made, but the people around me made,” she told reporters at Miami. “I was surrounded by really smart people that taught me to say “no.”

“I learned a lot through that process, because it’s so easy to do well and think you’re on top of the world, because you get kicked in the bottom really fast once you believe that you’re on top of everything.”

Sharapova says she chose to concentrate on tennis instead of getting sidetracked by commercial and publicity opportunities, and that has paid off. Her already high level of exposure and endorsements could be even higher if she chose.

“I had a lot of sponsorship opportunities I could have taken but I said no to because of the time consumption, or photo shoots I could have been a part of, amazing events I could have gone to.”

One thing Sharapova didn’t have to deal with in those days was social media, something today’s young players have grown up with. Though it allows them to communicate with fans and receive messages cheering them on, tennis players have also been subjected to taunts and insults through various social networks.

“It adds another dimension of pressure,” said Sharapova, who has a social media following of over 12 million and recently launched a social channel.

“I think a lot of teenagers are very influenced by it.

“You’re always around opinions. No matter what you are, how great you are, there are always going to be those who don’t have nice things to say. And probably as a younger player, someone that’s just coming up, that’s always challenging to take in the beginning of your career.”

And while teenage success was not out of the ordinary when she first came on the scene, players are now taking longer to reach the top of the game and might begin receiving attention long before any big achievements.

“The hype is a lot bigger than maybe many years ago because you don’t see that so often,” said Sharapova. “All of a sudden you’re photographed by Vogue or you’re talked about.

“It can become difficult.”

Content via Bob Larson

Topics: 10sballs, Sharapova, Tennis News