The decision to retire was shared by Maria Sharapova on her personal page on the evening of February 26, after a long period of struggling to regain her form. This announcement also officially closes 19 years of tennis, full of glory but not without ups and downs of the “Russian doll”.

The beautiful female tennis player shared: “Tennis has brought me to the world and shown me my own qualities. This sport gives me challenges and helps me improve every day. Because So, no matter what I do in the next chapter of my life, I will still do my best. I will continue to move forward, conquering new heights. Tennis, goodbye.”

In 2001, when she was just 14 years old, Maria Sharapova began competing professionally. Just two years later, she won the Japan Open, winning her first WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) title. That same year, Sharapova was named “Emerging Tennis Player of the Year”.

In 2004, at the age of 19, Sharapova defeated a series of famous names, including the legendary Serena Williams, to win Wimbledon. The shocking championship, along with the captivating beauty of the 1.88m tall tennis player, made Sharapova even more famous with the nickname “Russian doll”.

At that year’s WTA Finals, the first time she participated, Sharapova continued to convincingly defeat Serena Wiliams to win the championship.

In 2005, Maria Sharapova rose to number 1 in the world and was the first Russian tennis player to achieve this achievement. During her later career, the “Russian doll” stood at the top of the world four more times with a total time holding the number 1 position of 21 weeks.

Sharapova’s impressive form continued to be shown by winning the title at the US Open in 2006. To win the championship, the young Russian girl at that time defeated two of the top names in the world of tennis, Amelie Mauresmo. and Justine Henin.

Both talented and beautiful, success and fame quickly found Sharapova. For 11 consecutive years (2206-2017), “Russian doll” has always been the female athlete with the highest income of the year.

In 2007, Sharapova was selected as Ambassador for the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). In this new role, she has made many contributions to social work around the world.

By 2008, Sharapova added to her collection the first Australian Open championship of her career. She also participated in the Russian team that won the FED Cup women’s team championship that year.

After many years of successful competition, the “Russian doll” suffered many injuries and lost form. It was not until 2012 that she completed her Grand Slam title collection with victory at the French Open.

In the same year 2012, “Russian dolls” represented Russia competing at the London Olympics. She rematched with senior Serena Williams in the final but lost, ending the tournament with the silver medal in the women’s singles.

In 2017, Sharapova won the last WTA title of her career at the Tianjin Open. At the end of her 19-year professional career, she had 36 WTA titles, including 5 Grand Slams.