Maria Sharapova sends concerning warning to tennis youngsters

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Tennis great Maria Sharapova has expressed her concerns that players have an “extra weight” of pressure added on them thanks to social media. The five-time Grand Slam champion has spoken out on the issues that younger players now face and has drawn on her own experiences.

Sharapova retired from tennis back in 2020 following a stellar 19-year-long career. The Russian has won almost every trophy and Grand Slam on offer, including the Australian Open, Wimbledon, the US Open and two French Opens.

Despite her success, the 36-year-old was forced to exit the sport following a spate of serious injuries. She decided to call it a day following the 2020 Australian Open where she suffered an early exit after being allowed to compete as a wildcard pick – enduring a straight sets defeat to Donna Vekic.

Following her departure, Sharapova has still kept an eye on the sport and weighed in on important matters in the game. In her latest interview, on the Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard podcast, the Russian has spoken out on the amount of pressure younger tennis players have to face.

“There is an external pressure of constantly having to show up for it so that there is relevance in this digital universe of your presence.

“I never had anyone help with anything I have done on social but I have definitely faced that pressure of – ‘Oh if I don’t post for a week then no one is gonna see my post when I do make them’.

“But then you have to stay true to who you are and you have to beat to your own drums is that the saying?”

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Following her retirement, Sharapova has revealed that she has no plans to get back involved with the sport in a punditry role as she likes to be more concise with her choice of words.

“I’m not someone that says a lot, I don’t speak all the time just to speak,” she said. “I’m more thoughtful, I’m more of an observer and then when I’m confident, I want to say what I feel like when I’ve done enough research about something, conviction in my thoughts when I say it.

“That’s why I didn’t think that I could be a good commentator because I just don’t like to fill up the oxygen with words.”

During her discussion the tennis great was asked what she thinks about players who feel under pressure to “have to have an opinion on absolutely everything.”

“Yeah isn’t that interesting,” Sharapova replied. “That’s what I am finding, I don’t know if challenging, but there is definitely this extra weight on everyone where you are put in a position to have something to say without really having the time to figure out what it is that you wanna convey.”

“Well, they’re running on an algorithm then it starts running your life,” she added while talking about how social media can take control of people’s lives. “So that’s my beef with social media.

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