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.
If you'd like to support our show, we've launched an NCR Patreon where you can do just that! Check out our five tiers and see which might be right for you! And thank you to the many who have already given their support! (And thank you to G.O.A.T. backer J O'D!)
As always, thanks for liking us on Facebook (leave comments on the episode thread! Engage with other listeners!), following us on Twitter (discuss this episode with hashtag #NCR245a!), and subscribing/reviewing on iTunes on iTunes or whatever your podcasting app/platform of choice may be.
Episode 299b: Donald Dell
Episode 299a: Barcelona, Barty, Belgrade and Boseman (in Brooklyn)
Episode 299: Barty, Bianca, and Boys in Miami
Episode 298: The Empty Miami Open (with Michelle Kaufman)
Episode 297: The Broken Economics of Tennis
Episode 296: The Voids to Fill
Episode 295: Muguruza Wins; Federer Returns; Djokovic Reigns
Episode 294: Our Man in Rotterdam
Episode 293i: Australian Open 2021 - Novak's Ninth
Episode 293h: Australian Open 2021 - Naomi Osaka Wins Her Fourth (and Counting...)
Episode 293g: Australian Open 2021 - Finals Set: Osaka-Brady, Djokovic-Medvedev
Episode 293f: Australian Open 2021 - Semifinal Showdowns Set
Episode 293e: Australian Open 2021 - Day 7: Women's Star Power Shines
Episode 293d: Australian Open 2021 - Round 3 Round-up
Episode 293c: Australian Open 2021 - Day 4: Kenin Falls, Barty Stumbles, Kyrgios Rises
Episode 293b: Australian Open 2021 - Day 3: The Passion of Venus
Episode 293a: Australian Open 2021 - Round 1 Round-up
Episode 292: Australian Open 2021 Draw Show
Episode 291: Stefanos Tsitsipas
Episode 290: The Complaint Department (with Reem Abulleil)
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Served with Andy Roddick
Baseline Intelligence with Jonathan Stokke
Second Serve Tennis
Tennis Channel Live Podcast
King of the Court