After Maria Sharapova announced her retirement on Wednesday morning, Ben is joined by Tumaini Carayol of The Guardian for an emergency episode to discuss her career and its many highs, lows, and controversies.
After expressing some relief that she's stopped, we discuss what made Sharapova keep pushing on through the pain so long, and also what our early memories of her career were. We discuss her arrival as a star, and then the darkening of that when she tested positive for a newly-banned substance in early 2016, which complicated and muddled a career which was already likely on its downhill.
We also share some of our favorite memories of Maria, and what made her such a tremendously satisfying antagonist on the tour--particularly for Serena Williams, whom she was a distant second behind in the end.
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Episode 191: The Chair Has the Floor
Episode 190: French Fortune Favors Brave (and Guy Who Won Nine Times Before)
Episode 189: Draw Me Like One of Your French Opens, 2017
Episode 188: Cautiously Sliding on Clay
Episode 187b: French Open Shuns Sharapova
Episode 187a: NCRvision Song Contest Revisited
Episode 186: Jamie Hampton
Episode 185: What to Expect When Serena's Expecting
Episode 184: Resembling an Ensemble
Episode 183: Shade in the Desert
Episode 182a: Maria Sharapova: The Ice Woman Cometh
Episode 182: Dipping Into Indian Wells
Episode 181: Gulf Claps with Reem Abulleil
Episode 180: Getting Turned Around
Episode 179: Making a Racquet
Episode 178: Waking From Australian Dreams
Episode 177f: Australian Open Day 10-12: Dream Finals
Episode 177e: Australian Open Day 8-9: Growing Old, Moving Up
Episode 177d: Australian Open Day 5-7: Zverevving Up for the Second Week
Episode 177c: Australian Open Day 4: Djokovic Derails
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