It has been now a year that Maria Sharapova came back to the competition after her 15-month doping ban. Many tough moments happened on her journey, especially due to injuries. The Russian won a title again in October at the Tianjin Open, but she still has a “low” ranking position, No.
42. However, she insisted that winning a Grand Slam is her goal. That’s why asked when he could retire from tennis, Sharapova indicated that a lot will depend on how much she will be able to compete at the highest level. ‘I haven’t set a timetable for myself, but I’ve always said that I would do it on my own terms.
And when I say ‘on my own terms,’ so many questions are goal oriented’ – the 31-year-old told Forbes – ‘You start a season and it’s like what’s your goal? When you’ve experienced grand slam victories, it’s absolutely natural to have that goal in your mind.
It would be silly for me to say my goal for this year is to win a lower-tier tournament because I strive to be on the big stage and to win on the big stage. I’ve experienced it, and I know what it’s like and I want that feeling again.
I continue to work for that.’ Sharapova also admitted that stopping competing between 2016 and 2017 influenced her: ‘I didn’t put any expectations on myself coming back after the suspension. Because missing that
period of time at this age and after going through different things in my life, whether it’s injury or surgery, just being away from the sport, even though you are resting your body and even though I was resting things that were hurting before, you can never replicate what you do in a match environment.
