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By Chris Oddo | Thursday July 27, 2017

 
Sharapova

Maria Sharapova loves tennis and doesn't have the time or energy to trash her critics. The Russian reveals this and more in a piece for the Player's Tribune.

Photo Source: Christopher Levy

Maria Sharapova has eloquently penned a message to her fans—and haters—for the Player’s Tribune. In it the Russian opens up about her vulnerability and feelings about critics, while also giving readers a glimpse into the mind of a mysterious and controversial star of the sport.

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The Russian, who will make her return to the U.S. hardcourts at next week’s Bank of the West Classic in Stanford, California, wrote openly of the criticism she faced before returning from her 15-month doping ban this spring in Stuttgart, and displayed a surprising amount of restraint.

“I’m aware of what many of my peers have said about me, and how critical of me some of them have been in the press,” she wrote. “If you’re a human being with a normal, beating heart, you know … I don’t think that sort of thing will ever fully be possible to ignore. And I don’t think it will ever not be weird or hurtful to go through.


“But at the same time … I’ve always tried to keep a generous attitude toward critics in general — whoever they are, and whenever they’ve been there. I’ve never wanted to respond to the people trashing me by trashing them back; that’s always been important to me. I’ve always wanted to respond by showing grace — something I learned from my mom, one of the most graceful and elegant people I know. I’ve always wanted to face my critics by simply taking the high road. And by showing them, by showing everyone, that taking the high road is a choice.”

Those words may not win her staunchest critics over, but for anybody on the fence, looking perhaps for a redemptive figure or an underdog for this summer’s final Grand Slam, Sharapova could be the one.

Though Sharapova has shown no cracks in her armor, and is revered for being a wall of mental toughness, she tells readers that on the inside that well isn’t nearly as secure as it appears.

“I feel vulnerable all the time — no different from any other person,” she wrote. “And the walls I’ve built around myself … they aren’t nearly as impenetrable as people think. Things still get through, and still make me feel certain ways.”

Sharapova finishes by bringing the reader full circle. Tennis is a love sport, and even though it has been a painful return for her—both physically and mentally—the five-time champion is in the game because it’s what she loves best.

“If you love tennis enough, then at the end of the day, it will love you back,” she concludes. “And though these last two years have been tougher — so much tougher — than I ever could have anticipated … my passion for the game has never wavered. If anything, it’s only grown stronger.”

Read the full Player’s Tribune article here:

 

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