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 199c: Keep the Dream Alive
Episode 199b: ATP Rundown (with Ricky Dimon)
Episode 199a: The Rises and Falls of Fall
Episode 199: Laver Cup (With Reem Abulleil)
Episode 198b: U.S. Open - Rafa, Sloane, Battle of the Sexes, Unstoppable
Episode 198a: U.S. Open Day 1 - Sharapova Beats Halep
Episode 197: U.S. Open Preview!
Episode 196: Paul Annacone and Giri Nathan
Episode 195: Burning Topics With Lindsay Gibbs
Episode 194: Wimbledon a Wimbledud?
Episode 193: Wimbledon Manic Impressions
Episode 192: Wimbledon 2017 Preview (From Centre Court!)
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
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