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Maria Sharapova has criticized tennis' scheduling and system. The former World No. 1 also reflected on her appearance in Netflix's Break Point.
Sharapova competed on the WTA Tour from 2001 to 2020. At the peak of her power, the Russian won five singles Grand Slam titles. — the 2004 Wimbledon Championships, the 2006 US Open, the 2008 Australian Open, and the 2012 and 2014 French Open. In 2020, she announced her retirement from tennis after losing to Donna Vekic in the first round of the Australian Open.
Over the course of her illustrious career, Sharapova became one of tennis' most marketable personalities. Even after retiring, the 36-year-old has continued to share her opinions on the evolution of the sport. She was also roped in by Netflix to feature in its tennis documentary series, Break Point.
In a recent interview, Sharapova delivered her verdict on the state of tennis. According to the Russian, not all is right with the sport.
"The schedule and the system is still slightly broken. There's so much going on. The season is 10 months out of the year. There's several different federations involved; the Grand Slams that are not connected to the rest of the tour. There's inequality." Sharapova said in an appearance on Bloomberg Originals' The Deal with Alex Rodriguez & Jason Kelly (47:17).
Sharapova also spoke about her appearance in Netflix's Break Point last year, where she featured in six episodes in the show's first season to shed light on her experiences as a tennis player.
"It was actually the first tennis interview that I had done since retirement, and so it felt, you know, tennis is something I'll always know and I knew for so many years, but it was nice to have a little bit of a healthy distance from it." (47:50)
However, Sharapova admitted that tennis' tricky nature resulted in Break Point not being as impactful as Netflix's Formula 1: Drive to Survive.
"I still don't think it was as great of an impact to what they did with Formula 1, but tennis is a tricky sport to unbox. There's so many layers, and that's what I mean by the schedule, the equipment; all of these things are tricky." (48:28)
Maria Sharapova recently hailed English fashion designer and singer Victoria Beckham
Victoria Beckham, the former Spice Girl and fashion designer who is married to football icon David Beckham, was recently lauded by Maria Sharapova. Victoria orchestrated a show at the Paris Fashion Week even though she was suffering from a foot injury.
Apart from showcasing her Autumn/Winter 2024 collection at the event, Victoria also took to the runway, albeit with crutches. Sharapova, who was in attendance, shared her admiration for the 49-year-old on social media with an optimistic caption.
"Nothing stopping VB, even a broken foot!! Excited to see your beautiful creations this evening," Sharapova wrote in an Instagram post.
