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 177b: Australian Open Day 3: On Losing, With Peter Polansky
Episode 177a: Australian Open Day 1-2: Petko and the Children
Episode 176: Australian Open Draw Show
Episode 175b: Still Remembering When
Episode 175a: Ana, Auckland, and Anamneses
Episode 174: Kvitova and Kicking Back With Questions #2
Episode 173: Kicking Back With Questions #1
Episode 172: Stuffed With Gratitude
Episode 171: Regime Change
Episode 170: The Boys Are Back in Town
Episode 169: Steve Simon (and the Streams)
Episode 168: Sinking, Tanking, and Politicking
Episode 167: The Sharapova Resolution
Episode 166: Keeping the Faith in Tennis
Episode 165f: U.S. Open - Kerber, Wawrinka Win; We Punch Out
Episode 165e: U.S. Open - Finals Reckoning
Episode 165d: U.S. Open - The Women in the Room
Episode 165c: U.S. Open - Halfway Home
Episode 165b: U.S. Open Foot Soldiers
Episode 164: US Open Preview State of Mind
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