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When Maria Sharapova and her father, Yuri, arrived in Florida in 1994 — from the frigid outer reaches of Eastern Europe — they only had a borrowed $700 and couldn’t speak English.

Sharapova was seven years old.

A year earlier, at a tennis clinic, 18-time Grand Slam champion Martina Navratilova had recommended professional training at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida with coach Nick Bollettieri. Two years later, Sharapova was already so clearly talented that IMG underwrote her scholarship.

The gamble paid off. What began as a scholarship soon became one of the most recognizable careers in modern tennis.

On Saturday, the five-time major singles champion — and one of only seven women in the Open Era to complete a career Grand Slam — will be enshrined along with doubles champions Mike and Bob Bryan in the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island.

It’s a worthy honor, for Sharapova finished her career with 36 WTA Tour-level titles, more than $28 million in prize money and a record of 645-171 (.790). She first achieved the No. 1 ranking at the age of 18.

Breakthrough at Wimbledon

You could see her coming. 

Four years after landing at the IMG Academy, she was the winner of the 2000 Girls’ 16 division at the Eddie Herr International Junior Tennis Championships — at the age of 13. Two years later, she was a finalist at the Australian Open and Wimbledon junior tournaments.

Sharapova turned professional on the day of her 14^th birthday.

In 2003, at the age of 16, she crashed the Top 50. After winning her first two career titles, the Japan Open and the Bell Challenge in Quebec City, she was named the Newcomer of the Year.

A year later, she kicked it into another gear, winning Wimbledon at the age of 17.

Sharapova loved the strawberries and cream, but most of all she enjoyed stunning two-time defending champion Serena Williams 6-1, 6-4 in the final. That win ended the numerous comparisons to countrywoman Anna Kournikova, a blazing talent who never quite panned out as a professional. Sharapova was the first player from her country to win Wimbledon and, overall, the third youngest ever.

Years later, she was asked for a favorite memory from her playing days.

“I’d say your first Grand Slam final is ultimately just the most memorable one,” Sharapova said. “In my career, it came at a very young age. I was 17 years old and it was in London, in Wimbledon, and the whole world was watching. I was playing against Serena Williams, and everything felt like I should have just been happy to be there, but I was so fearless.

“It’s always the memory that comes to mind because I least expected it to come then,” she said. “And I was so tough. I went for it.”

Backing it up

Sharapova, at 6-foot-2, was a baseline banger with a big, well-directed serve. Her secret weapon, though, was an iron will and an unyielding work ethic.

In 2006, at the still-precocious age of 19, she won her second major, the 2006 US Open. This time she beat another of the sport’s icons, Justine Henin, 6-4, 6-4 in the final.

After Henin found the net on match point, Sharapova fell to her knees, held her head in her hands and ran to embrace her father.

“I figured I lost the last four times against Justine so I thought I would just flip everything [180] degrees and do the total opposite,” Sharapova said at the time.

Henin, who reached all four major finals that year, gave Sharapova her due.

“She’s been a real fighter tonight and she deserves it,” Henin said.

Two years later, at the 2008 Australian Open, Sharapova added a third different Grand Slam to her eclectic resume.

After missing chunks of time the previous year with a serious shoulder injury, Sharapova — in terms of ranking — was actually the underdog against Ana Ivanovic after getting through, among others, Lindsay Davenport, Henin and Jelena Jankovic.

In sweltering conditions, Sharapova emerged as a 7-5, 6-3 winner in 91 minutes.

“If someone had told me in the middle of last year I’d be standing here with the big one,” Sharapova said, “I’d have said, ‘Forget it.’”

An unexpected turn

For Sharapova, the right shoulder was always the fulcrum of her success. And, because of the stress involved, her greatest vulnerability.

A few months after winning in Melbourne, Sharapova developed shoulder pain and eventually two tears were discovered in her rotator cuff. When rehabilitation didn’t work, she elected to undergo surgery.

“I had my doubts,” Sharapova said. “I would always ask around who had such problems with their shoulder and who recovered from it, and who had surgery, and who got back to the top. And I didn’t get many answers back, which was a little frightening, because you always want to look toward the positives.”

After sitting out for 10 months, she returned to tennis in the spring of 2009. Adapting to that adversity, Sharapova redesigned her serve — reinvented herself, actually — to take pressure off the joint most responsible for her success.

And while that leave of absence took her outside the Top 100, she returned to the No. 1 spot after an unexpected title run at Roland Garros in 2012.

On the red clay that had once left her completely befuddled, Sharapova beat Sara Errani in the 2012 final and, with it, joined the short list of women to win all four majors.

“It’s the most incredible feeling,” Sharapova said after her win in Paris. “I’m so happy. I’ve worked so hard for this — it took a lot to get to this stage and even more to win it.

“There are so many tough days where you feel like giving up, but you don’t. It’s been such a journey to get to this stage again.”

And then she did it again two years later, defeating Simona Halep in a three-set match that ran more than three hours.

“This is the toughest Grand Slam final I’ve ever played,” Sharapova told reporters. “If somebody had told me … at some stage in my career, that I’d have more Roland Garros titles than any other Grand Slam, I’d probably go get drunk — or tell them to get drunk. One or the other.”

No Australian batter was able to stay at the crease for a long haul, barring Josh Inglis. The right-hander scored 87 runs, and his innings kept the hosts in the game. However, his dismissal paved the way for an easy Proteas win. Australia got bundled out for 193 inside 38 overs.

For South Africa, Nandre Burger and Senuran Muthusamy returned with two wickets each. As a result of this win, the Proteas registered their fifth consecutive bilateral ODI series win over Australia.

South Africa have won eight of their last 10 bilateral ODI series against Australia. They have won 17 of the last 21 completed head-to-head ODIs.

On the other hand, Australia’s woes continue in the 50-over format as they have won just once in their last eight completed ODIs. The side have now faced defeat in their last three consecutive bilateral ODI series. This has happened for the first time in six years.

Also Read: First time in 54 years of ODI cricket history: South Africa’s Matthew Breetzke achieves record once thought impossible

Australia lost to Sri Lanka 2-0 in February, just before the Champions Trophy, and before this, the side faced a 1-2 defeat against Pakistan in November 2024.

In the last four completed ODIs, Australia also failed to go past the 200-run mark. Lungi Ngidi scalped his second fifer against Australia in ODIs. He is now at the fourth spot in the list of most ODI fifers against Australia, behind Curtly Ambrose, Shane Bond and Trent Boult.

‘Great feeling’

After the win, South Africa’s stand-in captain Aiden Markram said that it is a great feeling to win against a strong Australian lineup and register a series win Down Under.

“It’s a great feeling, of course. Never an easy feat coming to Australia and wrapping up the series with a game to go. The boys are pretty chuffed in the changeroom. Incredibly happy for Lungs, for the way he pulled it off,” said Markram.

“There was pace and bounce, and the two quicks bowled really with the new ball. There’s heaps of room for improvement in all facets. Another opportunity on Sunday to do things better, and hopefully the result goes our way,” he added.

Ahead of the Asia Cup 2025, former Indian cricketer Manoj Tiwary shared his thoughts on whether the India-Pakistan clash must be played or not, saying that he is very surprised seeing that the match is taking place after the Pahalgam terror attack. India will kick off their campaign against the UAE on September 10, while the high-voltage game against Pakistan is scheduled for September 14, with both fixtures set to be played in Dubai. India will play their final group stage fixture against Oman on September 19 in Abu Dhabi.

The question of whether the popular cricketing fixture should take place has been a massive point of debate leading up to the tournament, especially after Indian legends did not play their matches against Pakistan in the World Championships of Legends (WCL) recently due to tensions between both nations. While there have been voices backing the match to go ahead, as it’s a multi-national tournament with a title at stake, there has been a massive section just as vocal in calling for a boycott of the match.

The reason is Operation Sindoor, which was launched in May by the Indian Armed Forces against Pakistan-backed terror groups following the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22. The Indian Armed Forces carried out targeted strikes against terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir, resulting in the deaths of over 100 terrorists linked to groups such as Jaish-e-Mohammed, Lashkar-e-Taiba, and Hizbul Mujahideen.

ALSO READ – India vs Pakistan Asia Cup 2025: Probable Playing XI Player-by-Player Comparison

Speaking to ANI about the India-Pakistan match, Manoj Tiwary said, “I am a little surprised that this match is going to happen… After the Pahalgam attack, in which so many innocent civilians were killed, and then the war that followed, a lot of talk was going on that this time we will give a befitting reply. Despite this, after a few months, everything has been forgotten… I find it hard to believe that this match is happening, that the value of a human life can be zero. What do they want to achieve by playing with Pakistan?… The value of a human life should be more than sports… There is no question of me watching the match at all…”

Team India for the Asia Cup 2025 was unveiled on Tuesday, with skipper Suryakumar leading the squad and Shubman Gill as his deputy, with several major names missing out. The squad was announced during a press conference attended by T20I skipper Suryakumar and chief selector Ajit Agarkar, which was held after a selection meeting which also featured the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Devajit Saikia.

Some big misses in the top order in the main squad include Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shreyas Iyer, who had incredible IPL seasons this year for the Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Punjab Kings (PBKS). Jaiswal is not in the main squad, but rather in the reserves group alongside all-rounder Washington Sundar, all-rounder Riyan Parag, pacer Prasidh Krishna and wicketkeeper-batter Dhruv Jurel.

Expressing his views on the exclusion of Iyer and Jaiswal, Tiwary said, “”Two deserving candidates, Shreyas Iyer and Yashasvi Jaiswal, have not been able to make it to the team… If you see old videos of Gautam Gambhir, he had said that Yashasvi Jaiswal is such a player that we cannot think of keeping him out of T-20. Now that he himself is the coach, there is no place for Shreyas Iyer in the team. Shreyas Iyer’s performance is the best if you look at the last year… It’s eye-opening that he didn’t get a place in the T20… The selection process should be made live so that sports lovers know who has been selected and why…”