By Martyn Herman
Moscow: Maria Sharapova, the five-time grand slam champion who became one of the highest paid sportswomen in the world, has announced her retirement from professional tennis.
The 32-year-old Russian, whose Wimbledon victory over Serena Williams in 2004 at the age of 17 propelled her to superstardom and riches, broke the news in an article for magazine Vanity Fair.
Maria Sharapova has announced that she is retiring from tennis.Credit: AP
"I'm new to this, so please forgive me. Tennis - I'm saying goodbye," wrote Sharapova, who gave tennis the ultimate rags-to-riches story after moving with her father Yuri to train in Florida as a child.
"How do you walk away from the courts you've trained on since you were a little girl, the game that you love - one which brought you untold tears and unspeakable joys - a sport where you found a family, along with fans who rallied behind you for more than 28 years?"
Sharapova will go down as one of the greats of the era - only Serena and Venus Williams have won more slam titles among current players.
Her decision is hardly a major surprise as she has struggled with injuries and poor form since returning from a 15-month drugs ban in 2017, the result of testing positive for heart drug meldonium at the 2016 Australian Open.
The former World No.1 has struggled with chronic shoulder problems and this season has played only two matches, both of which she lost.
Maria Sharapova holds the winner's trophy after defeating Serena Williams in the WImbledon final in 2004.Credit: AP
Sharapova, whose trademarks were her ferocious intensity and pounding groundstrokes, burst onto the tennis scene when she won Wimbledon in 2004. She would go on to win the US Open title in 2006 and the Australian Open in 2008 before twice lifting the trophy at Roland Garros, in 2012 and 2014.
In 2016 her reputation was tarnished when she was banned from the sport for 15 months, on appeal, after testing positive for meldonium. After an 18th consecutive defeat by Serena Williams, in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open, Sharapova failed the anti-doping test and was initially banned for two years by the International Tennis Federation (ITF).
Sharapova claimed she did not realise that meldonium, which she said she had taken for health issues throughout her career, had been recently added to the World Anti-Doping Agency's banned list.
Her ban was eventually reduced to 15 months and she returned to action in April 2017 after being handed wildcards at several events, which drew criticism from some fellow players.
Later that year she won the Tianjin Open, the 36th and last title of a career that earned her $US38.7 million ($59 million) in prize money - a figure dwarfed by off-court earnings that, according to Forbes, made her the highest-paid female athlete for 11 years in a row.
"Looking back now, I realise that tennis has been my mountain. My path has been filled with valleys and detours, but the views from its peak were incredible," Sharapova wrote in her article.
"After 28 years and five grand slam titles, though, I’m ready to scale another mountain, to compete on a different type of terrain."
With the all-too-frequent career breaks, Sharapova has established a confectionary company called Sugapova, from which some of the proceeds go the Maria Sharapova Foundation - a charity she set up to help victims of the Chernobyl nuclear accident in her native Russia.
Shamil Tarpishchev, president of Russia’s Tennis Federation, told RIA news agency that Sharapova had been a "role model for everyone".
"Many girls compared themselves to her. She was number one for the popularisation of Russian tennis. Her image component was huge," he said.
Reuters, AP