Source: http://www.crazydaysandnights.net

Now that she has quit, this foreign born former A+/A list athlete is hoping she can live her life and not be forced to be the play toy of oligarchs.

Maria Sharapova

Maria Sharapova retires, leaving behind a complicated legacy

Maria Sharapova was plucked from Russian obscurity at age 6 after the great Martina Navratilova spotted her at a Moscow tennis clinic and recommended that her family move to the United States so she could receive proper training. She won her first three Wimbledon matches as a 16-year-old wild-card entry in 2003 and then won the whole tournament one year later, announcing herself to the world as the third-youngest woman to win at the All England Club.

Instant, immense fame, a No. 1 ranking and two more Grand Slam titles followed, all before she turned 21. Sharapova eventually won the career Grand Slam — becoming the 10th and most recent women’s player to accomplish it — with titles at the 2012 and 2014 French Opens, even though she had once said she felt like a “cow on ice” while playing on clay. – Source

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