Tennis ace Maria talks motherhood and female empowerment ahead of Olympics
By Sarah Tetteh
She’s an Olympic champ and former world number one tennis player – who is celebrating 20 years since winning her first Wimbledon title.
Having played against the best and defeated them to achieve a Grand Slam, Maria Sharapova has now served up some advice on her biggest role to date – being a mum.
Years after hanging up her tennis shoes, Maria, 37, has become a mum to her sweet little boy.
It’s a role that she totally relishes, and indeed her biggest challenge yet.
With the Olympics in full swing, Maria caught up with Showbiz for a candid chat about the realities of motherhood, the ups and downs of juggling family life with work – and it turns out she’s just like us mere mortals.
Speaking exclusively to us as the Russian star who is Aman Global Wellness Ambassador, joined the CEO Kristina Romanova, to promote the glamourous beauty brand Aman, invited us to breakfast at Harrods, Knightsbridge for a female empowerment and wellness morning.
We love that the entrepreneur was buzzing to be in south London.
She said: “I just missed Taylor Swift mania – I think she’s back in August so hopefully I’ll have a chance to see her.”
The star gave fans a glimpse inside her life as a mother, and was refreshingly honest.
She shared: “I think it’s just accepting that having the perfect balance is not really that possible.
“Understanding that you will have days when you feel off balance and you’re handling too many responsibilities and that you’re just juggling a lot. Then other days you think you’re in control. You go through a range of emotions.
“I think a lot of it is acceptance, and realising that not every day is perfect. It’s really hard to achieve and it’s ok to go through some tough moments because on the other-side you build a resilience that is really important in today’s world. This resilience will help you in other aspects of your life.”
It turns out Maria is all about girl power too as she gave some brilliant advice on relying on her tribe.
She said: “I grew up being very close to my mum. We were so close and we were best friends. Now especially since having a son, I rely on her advice and her opinion so much and I’m really fortunate she plays a big role in my life and the decisions that I make.
“Family is so important for me. I come from a very small family so the family I have I really hang on to and and am very respectful of that.”
Maria became a household name when she was crowned the world No. 1 for the first time on August 22, 2005, at the age of 18, becoming the first Russian woman to top the singles rankings, and last held the position on July 8, 2012.
She won five major titles — two at the French Open and one each at the Australian Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. She won 36 titles in total, including the year-end championships on her debut in 2004. She also won three doubles titles.
She is also an Olympic medalist, having won silver in women’s singles at the 2012 London Olympics. She has been considered as one of the best tennis competitors of her generation.
Pictured top: Russian star who is Aman Global Wellness Ambassador, joined the CEO Kristina Romanova, to promote the glamourous brand Aman (Picture: Sarah Tetteh, Showbizmama)