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Wednesday 27 August 2014

My Strange Love/Hate Relationship With Maria Sharapova

Maria Sharapova is one of these players I love but can’t help hating all at the same time. 

Picture by Lobinhood under Creative Common License, CC BY-NC 2.0

The story starts in July 2004, in Wimbledon’s green land before thousands of spectators. Nobody expected it (me included), but the feisty, shrieking and unknown to the public blond won. At the time, Maria was only 17. She was tall, slim, pretty and blond. And obviously the media, the WTA and most casual tennis watcher were happy, ‘cause every decade in tennis needs a so-called blond bombshell. Nowadays, we’ve got Eugenie Bouchard *roll eyes*. 

For most Serena fan, this event is a painful memory, but to be honest, the 10 years-old that I was, was also impressed by Maria. At the time, she was pretty (she lost some of her beauty as she grew older, though, IMO) I loved her outfits, I loved how she screamed carelessly like a banshee on every ball she hit and I adored her fighting spirit.

By the way, even though I was impressed, that doesn’t mean I was actually cheering for the Siberian. I support Serena in EVERY SINGLE of her matches, especially the one against the tall blond. I’m always eager for a blond banshee beat down *insert evil laugh*.

Anyway, even until today, I’m still a fan of Maria. I can only concur that post-surgery Masha is less of a threat than the pre-surgery version and that lately she’s been looking way too much toward her box when thing start getting sour in a match. I can also understand that some might find her sportmanship questionable. Though, I’ll argue that if a player can’t recover from a toilet breaks, then he should start asking himself some questions. 


Picture by rocor under
 Creative Commons License, CC BY-NC 2.0
Still, even after a decade long career Maria’s intensity and passion on the court hasn’t declined. And that’s why I still want to see her match. Please guys don’t throw me any rotten fruits.

Throughout her career, she also always sought to improve her game. Her results on clay are a proof of this.

Besides, after Serena and Venus, she’s among the few players who’ve always found a way to bounce back after they had a setback in their career. I thought that girls like Ana Ivanovic, Petra Kvitova and Nicole Vaidisova would be among this list, but oh well.

However, two things should be separated. Even though, I admire Maria’s accomplishment as a tennis player, that doesn’t mean I appreciate how the WTA and the media in general handle her success. You heard about white privilege? If you haven’t, look up its definition on Wikipedia. Well, white privilege perfectly describes Maria’s (and Eugenie Bouchard’s) career.

After she won Wimbledon, Maria was marketed by the WTA as the best player of the century. The media talked about her as if she was some sort of Tennis Goddess. And it was utterly ridiculous. 

Everything she does is always branded as great, mesmerizing and amazing, even when it isn’t. 

Whereas Serena, Venus and most other tennis that aren’t white, blond and reasonably attractive had to work very hard to get the quarter of her recognition.

This year, after she won the FO, the hype flowing around Masha was so big that if it was a tornado it would have destroyed The United States entirely. Her Sugarpova brand was promoted by the WTA like crazy (perhaps they’re investor or something) and they were talks of a 10th year anniversary in case she won Wimbledon for a second time. Thanks God, it never happened.

I’ve never cared much for Angelique Kerber, but I was rooting for her like crazy in her quarter against Maria in Wimbledon. I was just not there for an anniversary party.

More than her shriek, or her (lack of) sportsmanship, I think it’s the hype surrounding Maria that put so many tennis fans off. In my case, it’s the biased hype she garners that sets me on edge. 

Because, let’s be real for a sec, if Maria had been named Shauna, hailed from the Bronx and sported an ebony complexion, you seriously think her name would be in the paper? Maybe only if she had won 17 Slams and was still on top of the game aged 33.

2 comments:

  1. I like to watch tennis, so I actually do understand this. I like Maria, but I think my favourite is still Selena xD Then Maria and probably Venus after that although she is struggling to bounce back after a long period of injury. Nice post!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank You! Personally, I think Venus should retire, she already accomplished so much in the sport. And it's not good for her legacy to lose against player she would have routined back when she was 100% healthy.

    ReplyDelete

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