In a conversation for ESPN+, former tennis superstar Maria Sharapova narrated to American icon John McEnroe how she was discovered by Martina Navratilova in Moscow, Russia.
"I was five years old. There was a clinic being held for 200 children in Moscow. There's Martina Navratilova with hundreds of children running around. She came up to my father after she saw me hitting a few balls and she said: 'You're kid is special'. My dad took her advice and basically said we're getting out of Russia. My mom stayed behind for the first two years. [She] couldn't get a visa. And then my dad would cut my hair and it was so disorganized and crooked. My dad had no clue," Sharapova told McEnroe.
Navratilova's reaction when Maria Sharapova retiredWriting for the WTA Tour after Sharapova retired in 2020, Martina Navratilova praised the Russian's career.
"Sharapova was a competitor on the tennis court, as intense and as ferocious as anyone who has ever played the sport.
And while competitiveness is celebrated in men, and seen as a big plus, women are quite often put down for it. I can relate to that, and I think that was sometimes tough for Sharapova...Sharapova, didn't ever change who she was as a person, or let go of who she was as an athlete, just because other people didn't happen to like her competitive nature. Let me put it this way, you wouldn't have wanted her as your opponent, she wouldn't take her foot off the gas even for a moment.. Throughout her career, Sharapova marched to the beat of her own drum - she wasn't in tennis to win popularity contests, whether with the public or her peers, and perhaps she wasn't always as appreciated as she could have been, but she did what she needed to win, and that worked for her...
Right to the end of her career, Sharapova still had the same mental toughness that had always defined her. That never left her. That's why the last couple of years must have been so tough for her, as she was trying just as hard as she had always done.
Her mind hadn't changed, but her body was saying: 'Naah, it's not going to happen anymore.' That had to be frustrating for her because the effort was there but the results weren't, so I wasn't surprised to hear she had decided to hang it up.
from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/VAyN8pq
Tennis
Hello friend's I am Arohi, i write the all type of viral content through my blog's. On my blog's get the latest News about science, tech, health and fitness , news, online earning ideas and more.