Five-time Grand Slam winner Maria Sharapova, one of the world’s most recognisable sportswomen, today announced her retirement from tennis. In an article for Vogue and Vanity Fair magazines, Sharapova said, “Tennis – I’m saying goodbye,”. Sharapova said that her body had become a distraction after a struggle with shoulder injuries. The Russian won her first Grand Slam at Wimbledon in 2004 aged 17 and completed the career slam, all four major titles, by winning the French Open in 2012.
In 2016, she served a 15-month ban after testing positive for meld onium. in 2017, Sharapova struggled to recapture her best form and suffered from a number of injuries.
She has dropped to 373 in the world, her lowest ranking since August 2002, and has lost in the first round of her past three Grand Slam tournaments. She said that after 28 years and five Grand Slam titles, though, I’m ready to scale another mountain, to compete on a different type of terrain.