Here are some photos of Maria Sharapova at a promotional event for her book this week in New York. The way she’s posing in these photos is funny to me, especially the one where she’s crouched down as if she’s in a shed, trying to make herself look like a small, wispy white girl who has been forever-dominated by an intimidating and “thick” black woman. Yeah. Anyway, did you also know that Maria has spent her press tour trying to explain away her doping ban? It’s true. I’ve been meaning to link to this Deadspin story all week, so please read this before we get to Maria’s latest BS. It’s an interesting anecdotal story of an amateur athlete who decided to use meldonium to see if it actually did enhance her performance. Guess what? Meldonium does help. And Maria still couldn’t beat Serena Williams. Some highlights from Maria latest interview with the BBC:
On how Eugenie Bouchard called her a cheater: “I think those are comments not based on facts, and therefore I don’t take them into consideration.”
On Andy Murray’s comments on doping: “I don’t think it’s for them to really have an opinion, because they don’t have the facts. So, you know, I think that those are the types of words that make headlines and they will be used as headlines. But ultimately, this is my career, and I faced it head on, and I admitted my mistake, and I went about it and I served my suspension and now I’m back.”
On meldonium not really being performance-enhancing: “The problem I have with that is there’s no proof of what it does, and no one can give you that proof. What is the ban based on?”
On first watching the Williams sisters: “My father told me, you gotta watch and you gotta study them. And I was like, no, I don’t want them to see me studying them! There was a shed behind the court they were practising on, and I watched them through this little peephole.”
The reason there’s “no proof” about meldonium being a PED is because it’s some weird Eastern European drug which hasn’t been fully researched. I would also argue that the “proof” that it’s a PED is that the ITF banned that sh-t (the proof is the ban). And if there’s no proof of what it does, THEN WHY WAS SHE TAKING IT? And why didn’t she have it on her list of medications which she submits to the ITF every year? As for Maria calling criticism fake news… how very Trumpian of her. How Russian!
Meanwhile, Maria was also on The View this week and she was asked specifically about the dog-whistle racism in her book about Serena being “tall” and “thick” and “intimidating.” When Maria was called out about that, this is how she answered:
“I think you have to understand that I’m speaking from an image of being a 17-year-old girl and seeing Serena Williams in front of me for the first time. I wasn’t physically developed at all, I did not belong at a Wimbledon final, so everything about her presence was intimidating to me. The whole experience of playing Serena as a 17-year-old girl was incredible, because I grew up practicing in an academy in Florida for so many years and I watched Serena and Venus practice at the academy, hundreds of spectators were watching – literally I was watching the next 25 years of my life right in front of me, unknowingly. And then you find yourself at 17 across the net from her. It was like someone just put me inside a TV screen and said ‘here you are, you’ve got a chance to play Serena.’ It was our second meeting and the first one, we had just played a few months beforehand, I lost easily, I thought it would take me years to get to her level. She was way above and beyond my level at the time. So playing against her, she was the two-time defending champion, and I speak about that rivalry in the book because that match was a huge part of my life and my career, it’s where it all started for me.”
So, once again, Maria is using Serena to humble-brag and dog-whistle in about twenty different ways. Maria is still painting herself as this tiny little girl who never thought she would ever beat the big black woman and it’s still so amazing to her that she beat Serena because Serena is so thick and so black, right? Ugh.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
I’m over her. Let’s have this boom flop so I don’t have to hear about her until January for the Aus Open. And hopefully by then Serena will be back to check her.
I’m still on a high from Rafa winning on the hard court. And Serena’s snap story about baby Alexis. So I’m going to think about that instead.
I just NEED a photo of Serena, winning trophy in one hand and gorgeous baby in the other, with the pinch-faced Woe Is Me racist in the background holding her second place trophy.
me too. omg me too
She’s not doping anymore. No way she will get 2nd place. She’ll be out before the quarterfinals.
More like in the background in the stands, donned in a trench coat and big shades. What a creep.
The facts are she didn’t tell anyone in her team that she was taking Meldonium. If it wasn’t performance enhancing why go to that much effort to hide her use? Why did her Dr tell her to take a higher dose for important matches? why was she self-prescribing for years without a doctor? . There are also other facts but I can’t remember off the top of my head.
Also, that makeup makes her look like she is 45. Can’t blame the makeup artist entirely for that. There is only so much they can do with an haggard looking face.
So sick of this chick and her complaining!
Didn’t she say she was taking the meldonium for a “heart condition”? It’s neither here nor there – the substance is banned. End of. I can’t stand this woman.
Aaaaanyway… Reading all her explanations and responses to Andy Murray and Eugenie Bouchard, are we absolutely, positively sure she’s not tRump’s secret, long-lost daughter?
“Didn’t she say she was taking the meldonium for a “heart condition”? It’s neither here nor there”
…. yep and a ‘family history of Diabetes’ apparently. Even though she started a overpriced candy company and doesn’t mind increasing the risk of her stupid fan’s getting Diabetes.
Her story has more holes in it than Swiss Cheese.
Her face does have that same potato-shape as Eric Trump.
Thanks – I didn’t know about tge diabetes link or candy stores. Ha! – “potato face” – too funny! And she’s now on the “fake news” bandwagon. Typical lying narcissist.
Someone in a previous Sharapova post a few days ago said she was ‘goldfish face’. Now I cannot un-see that resemblence , its pretty spot on lol!
I want one interviewer to go “So that was the highlight of your career and then she beat you 100 times after that, right? Is that why you’re so obsessed?” Journalism is dead.
🙂
So true. Most journalists are spineless mouth pieces.
Maria is a lying cheater. I can’t understand why companies like Porsche and Evian are sticking with her as an endorser.
Can’t wait for this chick’s book tour to be over.
Does,anyone else think it’s hilarious how she paints herself as such a little girl, when Serena is only 5 years older?
This. She was 17 and Serena was 22. Not that big of an age gap.
She is also taller than Serena, and possesses huge broad shoulders. I don’t know why people don’t see that, she’s not the small delicate girl she tries to portray.
She’s taller than most men! 6’2!
Enough.
We have the facts and here they are: this woman is a triflin cheater who doped, got caught and is trying to rewrite history. Not to mention her racist chatter around Serena & Venus. We see you and we know who you are. Now just go back to your shed and continue to watch the Williams sisters succeed for the rest of your life.
cosign.
Yep!
I can see Serena as intimidating on the court. If I had to play her, walk to the net and shake hands, knowing how formidable she is on the court, I’d be nervous as hell. Granted, all this Maria publicity is silly and sad and “finished,” (with her book or without). Removing the ridiculous conversation surrounding Maria, competitive women’s singles is still a sport, one which I’ve loved my entire life, and intimidation is part of it. It’s a part of any sport and any competition. So her word choice isn’t wrong and those amazing sisters are phenomenal and aggressive tennis players and yes, they’re intimidating.
But it’s the subtle dog whistles Sharapova uses in describing Serena. If she’d simply stated she was intimidated that’s one thing, but then she adds the “thick, tall” & other nonsense in her comments. And she’s 6’2″ and towers over Serena. The woman is cray.
Definitely. Honestly, I don’t think she’s very smart, and at the very least, this all feels like desperate attempts for relevancy.
cosign, imscaredashell.
I’d find Serena a tad intimidating, too. But then, anyone over 5’6″ intimidates me. I’m 4’11″…
(I always have to mentally translate the American use of “thick”. Down here, it means obtuse or stupid, which I know Serena is not.)
Serena isn’t thick by any definition. Maria, however, meets the standards to exemplify the British definition.
Why is she getting so much coverage? Her and her book need to go away. She is kind of a boring middle celebrity, who is invoking Serena’s name to get publicity. Not sure she is a cheater, a racist, or just a white privileged chick, but she sure sounds stupid. Better read Hillary’s book, even if you don’t agree with Hillary, you might learn a new point of view better than Maria’s drivel.
I am also surprised that she ever beat Serena. Not because Serena is “thick,” ( hey Maria the correct word is muscular), but because Serena is a much better tennis player than her. Let’s hear about Serena’s beautiful girl or Sloane’s amazing US Open win. At some point Maria has to let her tennis speak for herself, and if she does well then maybe people can talk about it. Right now she hasn’t done anything, and she should go away.
i’m confused about her saying that she didn’t want Serena and Venus to see her watching them. what would be the reason for that? she was 12, there was no reason for them to know who she was or care if she was watching. does she watch other players?
Athletes are hyper-competitive. Whenever I read a memoir, there’s always some story about an athlete not wanting another athlete to know that they’ve noticed the other athlete, even when they’re quite young. I don’t know if it’s necessarily out of the norm, even for young athletes.
Her story about the shed strikes me as far less strange than her denying that meldonium is, in fact, a banned substance, however.
perplexed: really? is it *that* bad in the sports world?
eta: i guess it makes sense in a competitive field that you’d not want competitors catching your moves, or whatever.
wow. it makes the shed comment less demented than it originally sounded.
Maria isn’t very smart–if she was smart she’d be better at actually playing the game. People forget–when she came on the tour, she was the big teenager with the booming serve and the powerful forehand. She overpowered Serena a couple of times. Her game was all power and no real finesse. Then she ripped up her shoulder, the booming serve was gone, and Maria couldn’t compensate because she’s not particularly skilled. Amazing how far a reasonably pretty face and a hank of blonde hair can carry you, but saying she’s Serena’s rival is like Anna Kournikova pretending to be Venus’ rival–not in the same class as players.
I think she may be good at the game (or, at least I thought this before I knew about the doping). It’s just that Serena is a one-in-a-generation athlete that no one else can beat.
Before the doping scandal, I thought she was way better than Anna Kournikova. She has 5 Slams, Anna has nothing!
” Anna has nothing”
Not necessarily true, Anna won 2 Grand Slam in doubles and 2 WTA Tour Finals in doubles. These achievements always seems to be overlooked. She IS a Grand Slam champion and a far prettier one at that.
Sorry, I should have clarified that she has no Slams as a single player (and the impression I had was that was the context in which we were talking about both players).
I believe she has won doubles with Martina Hingis, who might be the youngest Grand Slam single player winner (I’m not sure, but I could have sworn she was at the time she won). I think she won a Grand Slam as a singles player when she was 16.
Every article on Kournikova points out that she’s never ever won a Slam as a single player. I’m not even sure if she ever won the regular “big” tournaments as a singles player (like Indian Wells). Or even a tournament? The latter has always baffled me as she was always hyped up to become one of the greats, and then never lived up to what was said about her.
On paper, Sharapova is most definitely the better player as a singles player, though I’m not sure now if her name has an asterisk next to it because of the meldonium.
I don’t think either Sharapova or Kournikova is that pretty. They’re just blonde. Kournikova kind of looks like Boris Yeltsin.
Both got extra accolades simply for having blonde hair, but if you just look at their faces, they are fine but not worthy of all of the praise they both received. Sharapova at least is a real player with skills, but Anna K was mostly hype.
Shut up and go marry a billionaire.
Wow that article is…wow. Riiiiiight, we totally shouldn’t hold Maria accountable for doping because she admitted to it… after she was caught still taking it 4 months after it was announced it would be banned?
Sure Jan.
She seems lovely. Why would anyone hate on her?
Tall, blonde, beautiful?
Maria has earned her negative attention all by herself by having a bad attitude and behaving like a victim when she isn’t. She has talked trash about other players and has used veiled racist language when she talks about Serena.
As to people being jealous of her, I am sure some people are but it doesn’t negate the truth behind the criticism she has earned. I have explained the favor blondes receive from birth from first-hand experience, and she is the embodiment of this.
I believe when you are born with the thumb already on the scale it is important to acknowledge that and not behave as if it doesn’t exist or even get defensive about it. She doesn’t do that either she thinks she deserves everything or willfully ignores it.
There is a reason she is despised by other players, and it isn’t because she is so great at the game
Her makeup is nice here. She has perfect brows.
Wow –they are very nice to her on the view. Considering she didn’t seem to answer any question clearly and directly. Because of their advertising/ sponsors maybe or they just like her? The black floral dress suits her but not crazy about the red top
Sadly the Maria v Serena comparison is just further proof that being the best there is at what you do will never get you the same attention as being above average will if you are, I guess, traditionally beautiful, and determined to market that part of yourself above all others.
I mean it blows my mind that Sharapova is top earning female athlete in the world. She’s not at the top of the tennis world and that’s with the cheating. She’s a disgrace and an annoying one at that. But its an old story of just by on her looks.
I find it bizarre. She’s not even attractive. She looks like a big old horse to me, but I guess for some anything blonde and somewhat thin will do. What market does she even speak to?
Beats me. I don’t find her attractive either. But she’s obviously built a career on selling her looks and business is clearly good. So good in fact that superior tennis players are being brushed aside to make room for her.
Part of me wants her to be entirely canceled because I can’t stand her but on the other hand I love how you call her out keep it up
sooo many things going on here.
something about her streaky blondeness, her humble-brag-pride, her fronting, her cold eyes makes me think of either Kate Gosselin or , igh, Ivanka.
Maria needs to go away. She should banned from the sport.
I loathe this cheating, racist, overrated spoiled brat, but saying “How Russian” of her to be a dreadful, lying, “fake news” crying Trumptard is offensive and ignorant. I’m an American now, but Russia is my native home and I don’t know too many Russians—well, any—who are “trumptards” or who are like Maria. It’s her upbringing and personality which make her so awful, not her nationality! Ethnic prejudice, I thought, did not belong on this site? Clearly I was very wrong—or you are.