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 355b: 2023 US Open Day 2 - John Isner’s Legacy
Episode 355a: 2023 US Open Day 1 - Saudis, Sakkari, and Schedule Screeching
Episode 354: Bianca Andreescu
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Episode 352b: 2023 Wimbledon Draw Show (REUPLOAD)
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Episode 351: Djokovic & Swiatek Rack ’em Up Again in Paris
Episode 350: Draw Me Like One of Your French Opens, 2023
Episode 349: Sabalenka and Djokovic on Top Down Under at Australian Open
Episode 348: Australian Open Draw Show, 2023
Episode 347: Netflix’s ”Break Point” Hits and Misses
Episode 346: Men of the Year (With Ricky Dimon)
Episode 345: Swiatek, Alcaraz Reach New Heights at US Open
Episode 344: U.S. Open Draw Show 2022!
Episode 343: Serena’s Sunset
Episode 342: Rybakina and Djokovic Win Wimbledon
Episode 341: Walking Around Wimbledon’s Century
Episode 340: Wimbledon 2022 Draw Preview
Episode 339: The Book on Emma Raducanu (With Mike Dickson)
Episode 338: Swiatek and Nadal Roll Roland Garros
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