Australian Open: Out of Maria Sharapova - "I don't know if I'll be here next year"
The question was not entirely new to Maria Sharapova . But on January 21, 2020, the answer to the question of how her career would go sounded more subtle and reserved than ever.
by Jörg Allmeroth
last edit: Jan 21, 2020, 11:11 am
"I can't look into a crystal ball," said the 32-year-old Russian, "I don't know if I'll be back next year." Here it was Melbourne. The place of last disappointment and disillusionment for Sharapova. On the second day of the competition, after a 3: 6, 4: 6 opening failure against the Croatian Donna Vekic, everything was over for the former world ranking number one, who had entered the main field with the grace of a wildcard. A deep fall is now programmed for one of the most well-known, but also most controversial players on the tour: On Monday after the Grand Slam spectacle, Sharapova will find himself beyond the top 350 of the top ranking, losing the last sixteen points of the previous year after the tournament. "I gave everything to be well prepared. But that doesn't mean it's enough, ”Sharapova said in frustration.
Almost 16 years after the victory fairy tale on the holy Wimbledon lawn, the end of a career is now looming, which has been a dark shadow since the doping confession (Meldonium ingestion) at the beginning of 2016. After a 15-month ban, Sharapova never reached the previous class again, and most of the world's top competitors had run away. A quarter-final participation and two round of 16 advances since 2017 were the best Grand Slam results for the former best-earning athlete in the world, she never came within reach of a cup win on a very big stage. Most recently, she was eliminated three times in the first major round, in Wimbledon, New York and now in Melbourne. “It's not fun to talk about all the difficulties. I don't like doing that, ”said Sharapova,“ after all, I finished the match. That was not a matter of course. "
Again and again the shoulder
In fact, Sharapova has been fighting injuries more than ever for two or three years now, often more than against her rivals on the global center courts. In 2019, she played just 15 matches, with a mixed record of 8: 7 wins. 60, 70 games used to be the norm, Sharapova said, "but then I was a very young woman, a teenager." Sharapova repeatedly experienced setbacks due to shoulder problems, and operations did not improve either. "I have had to give up games too often, completely against my nature, to fight to the very end," says Sharapova.
Sharapova is one of the few players who managed to have won all four Grand Slams at least once, the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open. She won a total of 36 titles, was at the top of the tennis world, and also made remarkable comebacks earlier in her career. But now it looks as if time has passed, headlines have long been producing others from other generations. Players like Naomi Osaka, Bianca Andreescu, Cori Gauff. The young American, who beat another veteran in the first round of Melbourne, Venus Williams, is not even half the age of Sharapova. It could be the year of major upheavals in world tennis, with the question marks surrounding Roger Federer and Serena Williams about their careers. Sharapova's foreseeable farewell without any bang effects is just a small message. Also because she seems to have missed the moment of a more meaningful farewell.
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