“I gave my life to tennis, and tennis gave me a life,” said Maria Sharapova when explaining her retirement on 26 February 2020. It meant that an era had come to an end. However, the Russian, who left her mark on women’s tennis for many years not only as a superstar but also as a style icon, still represents Porsche worldwide as a Brand Ambassador.
Off-court, Maria Sharapova has always had an eye for art and design. At the photoshoot with the renowned fashion photographer, she displayed exactly the same perfection with which she became one of the world’s top players and a highly admired ambassador for her sport. During the course of her unparalleled career, Maria Sharapova won five Grand Slam titles. Thanks to her successes and her on-court elegance and dynamism, she was highly esteemed the world over.
Her relationship with Porsche has also been a success story. As a Brand Ambassador, she has been representing the sports car manufacturer all over the globe since 2013. “I’ve had the luck to be associated with some of the world’s top companies,” she says, “but the partnership with Porsche is a very special honour for me.”
“Stuttgart’s tennis queen”
Maria Sharapova is well-acquainted with Porsche sports cars. Her prize for winning the 2012 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix was a 911 Carrera S Cabriolet and then she was given the keys to a 911 4S Carrera Cabriolet after triumphing at the 2013 tournament. Asked by a reporter whether her garage was big enough for a second Porsche she replied: “There’s always enough space for a Porsche.” She secured her third Porsche, a 911 Targa 4S, when winning the tournament for a third time in succession in 2014. She thus crowned herself once and for all as the tennis queen of Stuttgart.
Born in Njagan, West Siberia on 18 April 1987, Maria Sharapova was four-years old when she was given her first tennis racket by the father of the Russian tennis pro Yevgeny Kafelnikov. At the age of six, she took part in a Moscow clinic where she was discovered by the great Martina Navratilova who recommended her parents that they should send their daughter to the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy. One year later at the tender age of seven she duly arrived in Bradenton on Florida’s Gulf Coast. She played her first WTA tournament in Indian Wells in March 2002.
First Wimbledon champion from Russia
Her big breakthrough came in 2003 when she won her first WTA title at the Japan Open in Tokyo. In 2004, now 17 and already the world No. 15, she surprisingly reached the Wimbledon final. Confident and with nerves of steel, the teenager defeated title-holder Serena Williams (USA) 6-1, 6-4 to become the first Russian woman to win the most important Grand Slam. The victory helped her qualify for her first WTA Championships in Los Angeles where she once again beat Serena Williams in the final.
On 22 August 2005, she became the first Russian to top the world rankings. She was, with breaks in-between, the world No. 1 for a total of 21 weeks. A second Grand Slam title was added in 2006 at the 2006 US Open. Another two years she won the Australian Open. Her triumph at the 2012 French Open, shortly after her first victory at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, completed her set of Grand Slam titles. The double – win in Stuttgart and win in Paris – was an achievement she repeated in 2014. She won 37 titles during the course of her career. After many injuries and setbacks, she then retired.
A soft spot for art, design and architecture
These days Maria Sharapova is a style and advertising icon with worldwide influence. It is something her social media presence underlines – over 14 million people follow her on Facebook, almost nine million on Twitter and about four million on Instagram. She is a successful entrepreneur (Sugarpova) with a wide range of interests and a pronounced soft spot for art, design and architecture. She has thus already designed her own fashion and furniture collections and was responsible for the planning of an outstanding house that was pictured on the cover of Architectural Digest. Her autobiography “Unstoppable” made it onto the New York Times’ bestseller list. Maria Sharapova additionally commits herself to charity projects as well as Female Leadership issues where she hands on her experiences in sport and business to young women that should grow into leadership positions.