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 217: Talking Dudes (With Ricky Dimon)
Episode 216: Julie Heldman
Episode 215: Laver Cup with Liz Clarke
Episode 214b: Shutting the U.S. Open, Part 2: Everything Else
Episode 214a: Shutting the U.S. Open, Part 1: Osaka, Serena, Ramos
Episode 213: When NCR Met Naomi Osaka
Episode 212: U.S. Open 2018 Draw Preview Spectacular
Episode 211: Open Playbook (LGBT in Tennis, Feat. Nick McCarvel, Brian Vahaly, Casey Dellacqua)
Episode 210: Wimbledon Draw 2018
Episode 209: Strokes of Genius with Jon Wertheim (and Federer, Nadal...and Gulbis)
Episode 208: Eleanor Preston
Episode 207: Nadal's 11th, Halep's 1st
Episode 206: Draw Me Like One of Your French Opens, 2018
Episode 205: Rekindling Our Fuego
Episode 204: Osaka and Delpo Feel Their Moment
Episode 203: Fights and Fakes in February
Episode 202: Bouchard vs U.S.T.A. - Genie Wins Round 1
Episode 201: Australian Open Wrap
Episode 200: Mary Carillo
Episode 199d: 2018 Australian Open Preview
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