Maria Sharapova smiles down from billboards across the globe, endorses blue-chip businesses and commands over six million Internet search result everyday. Sadly for the WTA Tour, the world’s highest-profile, and biggest earning sportswoman, has been nursing a shoulder injury since August. With the Russian sidelined, Justine Henin in retirement and two Serbs who suffer vertigo anywhere near the rankings summit, one Miami newspaper suggested the WTA should now be rebranded the Williams Tennis Association. It was only slightly tongue in cheek. Ten years after Serena Williams won the first of her 10 Grand Slam titles, the American, still only 27, is No.1 in the world, a position she first occupied in 2002. She may have hobbled to defeat in the Miami final against the improving Victoria Azarenka, but the feeling persists that the women’s game struggles to supply the sparks generated by Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer’s epic confrontations.
While the Williams sisters counter-attack against pretenders, three times Grand Slam title-winner Sharapova continues to recover from shoulder injury. However, it hasn’t dented the 21-year-old is earning power or the importance of her to the future well-being of the tour. Sharapova’s agent at IMG, who has represented her since she was 11, told Sports Business Journal that it’s really just Maria. She is global because tennis is global. It makes her more appealing.
While the Williams sisters counter-attack against pretenders, three times Grand Slam title-winner Sharapova continues to recover from shoulder injury. However, it hasn’t dented the 21-year-old is earning power or the importance of her to the future well-being of the tour. Sharapova’s agent at IMG, who has represented her since she was 11, told Sports Business Journal that it’s really just Maria. She is global because tennis is global. It makes her more appealing.
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