Maria Sharapova Bounces Back

last show of two thousand and seventeen. I think a lot of people are ready to say goodbye to this year. I know I am. But one bright spot of my year was getting to interview tennis player Maria Sharapova. We take the Slide at the ninety Street Wye in New York City. Maria is a five time Grand Slam winner, and she's out with a new memoir called Unstoppable My life so Far, so clearly she's got another book in her with that title. She actually wrote her memoir during

the fifteen months she recently spent off the court. That's how long she was suspended from tennis. I asked her to explain how that happened, and we actually started by talking about what it was like to come back. Meanwhile, in August, I was in the crowd at Maria's first US Open match since her suspension was lifted, and I wanted to know what was that night like for her. How did it feel when she walked into Arthur Ash Stadium in Queen's to play for a sold out crowd.

I walked into a lot of unknown that night, and it was very different to what I would usually feel going into a first round match at a tournament. I felt like there's a lot on the line and that match from the moment that the draw came out and I saw that I'd be facing as a wild card,

the number two player in the world. Once I knew I'd be facing against her, not only was I playing in the US Open after not competing there for a few years, I was going to play against Simona Hallip and just feeling Arthur Ash Stadium kind of seeing pun played under like the roof environment, even though the roof was opened, but the new structure of the court, it just seemed like almost like a new tournament to me because it had been so long. It was very exciting.

It was a long match. I was two hours and forty four minutes. But who's counting? I am, but I have to say it was I'm counting the day after when I'm like, oh, I feel as part of my body. I was supposed to finish that in two cents. Yeah, and you must you must have been exhausted. But I mean I know that after the match, and I was very excited to be there that night, so especially knowing I was going to interview you, So that was a

real added extra for me. But if you told the crowd quote behind all these I always have a hard time saying that word. I think it's were thank you crystals and little black dresses. This earl has a lot of grit and she's not going anywhere. Was this redemption

in many ways for you? It just felt like this is where I belonged, and I knew that I wanted to get back to that stage and it um remember leaving the courts and it was probably was past midnight at the time when I did the press conference after and I got back to the hotel room and I was I was in the room by one am. Had to go through a little massage um sports, massage, a few other things. So you end up going to bet

at like three am. But I just I didn't want to sleep, like I didn't want that evening or that feeling to end. I didn't want to start another day because I feel like I had so many of those um, you know, match memories to relive. Still, you made it to the fourth round, you lost to Anastasia Sevastova vlat M three sets. I know you're uber competitive, duh, understatement of the century, but how upset were you with that loss and and the fact that you weren't going to

go on. I certainly don't leave that court and say, oh, I'm okay with this. Definitely not. And you always have these expectations from yourself because you know what you're capable of, you know what you've the tennis that you've produced there over the years, and you know you can and you know everyone's watching and you want to and so it adds to that that extra pressure, which I love. But I wasn't. I wasn't satisfied, and I shouldn't be like

that's I shouldn't be satisfied with a forethrown exit. And I guess before a match you must envision what. I don't know if you do this, but I would if I were you, what it would be like if you want, you know what that moment would feel like, because it gives you something to aspire to, and so when it doesn't happen, you really have to kind of do a serious formulive visualization. Yeah, I definitely do that. I prefer

that to like setting certain goals for myself. I think it's just it's not about a particular ending, like that's not the way that I look at things. But I certainly visualize what success feels like to me, and I see it and I understand it and I feel it. Um. I think that's really important. And what does it feel like for you when you visualize? What do you say, though? What do you see? Do you see? Uh? You know? I mean, do you imagine something in your mind's eye? Yeah?

I think for me, happiness is really internal. It's not something that is most of the time seen in photographs are told in words. I think there's something much deeper. It's not something that anyone will be able to say, oh, well, now I saw that that she was happy, of course, like the emotion of winning that match. That was amazing, and that was happiness, and that brought so much to I mean, I think you you can't act that out like that. That's the way I really felt in that moment.

Let's let's talk about something that I know you've been asked about a lot, and certainly by journalists as you've been out promoting your book. Um, and it's it's really what you start off with in your prologue, the first sentences. At some point towards the end of the two thousand sixteen Australian Open, a nurse asked me to pee in a cup. That's a good thought. My first memoir would

start with the words p and the cup. But but but, of course, of course that that leads to the whole story of your suspension and why you were taking meldonium, which has the trade name of Meldreny, on a daily basis for for ten years. It was put on the band's substance list in two thousand fift September, and when that band went into effect in January, of course you

tested positive. You know, In preparing for this interview, I spoke with Billy jan King, who really admires you deeply, and she said, quote, you know, I'm still scratching my head over this. I just don't understand how this could happen. She described Maria as someone extremely exceedingly professional and exceedingly precise. And I know you've talked about this, but Billy Jing King still doesn't get it. So can you help her

and us out and explain explain how this happened? Um, in so many ways, if I would, if it would feel like I would be going backwards and starting from from scratch. And I it's still a question that I occasionally do ask myself, and I asked myself for a long period of time after I received that notice. It wasn't I didn't want to go back. I didn't want to rewind. And I am I'm very much to talk about it when I do, and but I am someone

that wants to learn for my mistakes. But in this situation, UM, when you're taking something legally for numerous amount of years, that is a common supplement in Russia, used by thousands of people and including my grandmother, which is I mean, I can laugh about it now. It wasn't funny at the time, but it's just such an odd and very odd thing that it all of a sudden becomes banned and I'm not aware of it, and no one around me, whether it's myself, my team, the organization's let me know.

I think what was really frustrating was it could have been avoided so easily if I would have known. You know, it does seem surprising though by all accounts, you have this incredible team around you that are you know, people focused on your success as a professional athlete, and it does beg the question. I mean, did somebody literally drop the ball on this and if so, a who was responsible?

Because you contend that your agents and trainers missed the various I t F notifications of this being added to the band A substance list, And if in fact someone did drop the ball, were there any repercussions for that? And because I know you kept your entire team around, I think the biggest um, the biggest problem was this sense of complacency in a system that I had for a long time. And I started that by saying from my end as well, because as I said, from the

very beginning, as an athlete, you take responsibility. It's not your coach, it's not it's not a manager, it's not your your parents, it's your it's your career, it's your life, it's your body. And yeah, I was also interested in the fact that you didn't disclose this because I talked

to some other players. We worked very hard preparing for interview, and one professional player said, you know their disclosure forms, and he said, I'm so paranoid or I was so paranoid when I played that I would even put violin c on that on that list, And and so why

didn't you just write it down and claim a therapeutic exemption. Ye. So, for for all the years that I was doing these forms, I was writing down, as it's said in the instructions, the medicines are supplements that you were supposed to write down for the past seven days. So everything that I was taking continuously every single day for the past seven days, I would write down. And this was not something that I took every single day. So I know one of

the benefits is increased exercise cardiovascular capacity. Now that you're not taking it, did you notice any ill effects on your performance, because it's at one point you said you would look for a substitute, a replacement that wasn't on the band list. Did you find that I constantly have to get check ups. I constantly have to go to the doctor. UM. I get regular e KG is a lot more than than other people would UM. As you can imagine, I'm very detail oriented. After this happened, and

and so did you find a replacement? UM, it's something that I don't want to talk about. It's just not something when we speak about doctors. I think it will open up more conversation and more questions. And I think from the very beginning, I think it's important, UM, you know, to speak about what had happened openly and honestly, and to move on from it. Let's let's talk about your time away from tennis. That fifteen months down from the original two year verdict allowed you to do some things

that you hadn't done before. I think you must have had a really interesting experience. You took summer classes at Harvard Business School, You interned for a few days at the NBA. You followed around a commissioner, Adam Silver through his daily activities. You wrote this book. Why did you want to do some of those things? I think because it was the first time really in my career where

I had time. It just gave me time. It gave me the freedom to do what I wanted to do, to grow as a person, um, and also to take my mind off of what was going on. I went to school for a few weeks and just to be in an environment with people that I didn't really care about my problems, had problems of their own, but we all had a similar understanding of why we were there.

We wanted to learn um doing the internships. UM. You know, as you said, dam Silver, I've always admired his work, just his professionalism and leadership, and I think the NBA has done, out of all sports, is just an incredible showcase of putting athletes and teams and business together and creating a great product. So I wanted to learn from him.

I went to Nike for a few days in Portland to shadowed a few people, So it was a mix of things, but more importantly, it gave me a chance to to be around the people that I wanted, that I care about, and that I wanted to be with during that period of time. You still trained. When I talked to Billy Jean, she said, I'd like to drop Billy Jane King's name like Billy Jane and I, but

we're like that, well that we should she's incredible. She's yeah, she's an amazing But she talked about how tough it was to go back and and to play at the US Open after not playing competitive tennis or you know that kind of tennis for that period of time. It's hard. Yeah, It's the one thing is you can never replicate a

competitive match. It's just not. You can do all the training in the world, and I spend time doing yoga and boxing and hiking and all the things I really didn't have time for because my training was very different from that. And all of a sudden, I find myself in an indoor cycling class with music. I was like, oh, this is this is new. I was like, wow, I didn't know that the training could be like dancing and fun.

And then you go into class and it's like you go from zero to like waking up, like coffee in hand. A lot of women would walk in with their coffees and then all of a sudden, their heart rates like one sixty. I was like, wait, where's the warm up? I was like, I'm like thinking, where they're going to hurt themselves? Um, But it was very actually impressive. I gained this whole new appreciation of this like work active

family balance that people have. I mean, I'm fortunate enough to work out for a living, and while I was doing these internships and studying, I knew that I had to, like at least be in somewhat of a good shape. But I would come back. Let's talk about your workout routine, because you mentioned I mean, and I watched a documentary about you that some friends of mine did, Lisa and Nancy Lax and they're great, and uh, you know, it showed you working out and I thought, God, how how

do you do that day in and day out? Take us through sort of quickly your routine and what you do and how you mix it up. It really depends on whether I'm getting ready for a tournament, or if I'm in the off season, or if I'm in a time and place where I just need to maintain UM. The off season is probably the toughest training block of the year for me, and it just it's physical, it's grueling, it's long hours I do. I spend probably three hours

in the gym and on the track. UM. But a lot of the focus and what I've tried to focus on is be very ton of specific because you can't replicate. And I don't know what it's like in other sports, but you really can't replicate tennis in any their environment. So how many hours would you say you spend a day? Like five to six? Oh God, that sounds awful. I don't know, do you? I mean, do you ever? I will say, though, it is a lot better. As I've been doing this book during the last couple of days,

that's been like fifteen hour days. I've I was like, I'd rather play tennis for twelve I'd rather made me run side to side for twelve hours. Like, I don't know, there's just something about talking endlessly that's very difficult, Like I'd rather just be playing and focused and running and physical because it's just what I know best. We finished our first set, so we're going to take a quick break. I'll be back with Maria Sharapova to talk more tennis

and even a little Vladimir Putin. Now back to my conversation with Maria Scherifova. You know, I know that you write in your book that you were really never into making friends in the world of tennis, and in fact, you called friendships among competitors tour friendships and a phony show for the press. Do you ever feel as if Maria you missed out or is that just not your jam to kind of get to know people. I'm so hip to get to know you know. I saw using

Instagram before we went on here. I was like, I'm really impressed with your skills. You can't teach an old doc Patrick. But I mean, do you feel in a way that, Gosh, when you see someone like like Sloan and Madison embracing and having that extraordinary bond, do you feel like, gee, I wish I could have had that?

In some ways, yeah, I respect that it's not the way that I grew up because I I came to America as an immigrant, and I spent the first many years being you know, someone at the academy that was much younger than everyone else, that was really on a

different mission than everyone else. Um that weren't as competitive, that weren't as driven as I was, had different goals and visions for their lives and um, and I was always someone that was beating girls and boys that were older than I was, so in a way, they didn't like me for that, and I felt that I felt that energy and um and I wanted to to beat them even more, and so I think, do you lose your edge a little when you do? Do you ever feel like you lose your edge if you get too

close to your competitors. Yeah, I do, I really do, And I think I speak a lot about that in in the book. You know, I didn't have any siblings. It was just me, and I wasn't around my parents very often the first few years in America, so it was really me and the tennis racket and the ball and the coaches that were around me trying to make me a better tennis player. So it was an absolute lonely time and I had to I had to deal with that, and I had to, like, I really did

feel isolated from from the rest. You know, a lot of attention has been given to some of the stuff that you wrote about Serena um who's been out of tennis herself for a few months. She just had a baby girl named Alexis So mozl mozzle Serena. I hear Eric the ninety street Wise say, mozle um. So your record against her is two wins and nineteen losses. But you beat her in the Wimbledon finals in July of

two thousand four. Of course, as you remember, you were just seventeen years old at the time, was your first Grand Slam. And in the book you write about hearing quote guttural sobs when you came to the locker room after the awards ceremony. Serena Williams was bawling and she didn't see you, but you write that she knew you were there, and you continue, I'm going to read an excerpt. I think Serena hated me for being the skinny kid

who beat her against all odds at Wimbledon. I think she hate me for taking something that she believed belonged to her. I think she hated me for seeing her at her lowest moment. But mostly I think she hated me for seeing her cry. She's never forgiven me for it. End quote. Now, not long after the tournament, you also write someone told you they heard Serena say quote, I will never lose to that little bitch again. So just very much true. Yeah, so, so I guess she got her.

So but why why do you think it was important for you to include that in your book, Because I know you've come under some criticism and the things that you've written about her well, I think it was important to share my experiences playing against her. And I've read a lot of memoirs written by athletes, and there are many instances where they don't speak about their rivals, and

they don't speak about the matchups. And I think it would have been very odd if I did not include Serena in my book, because I mean, that is who I faced in my first Grand Slam final. And it didn't even begin there as I as I started before.

It began as a thirteen year old girl practicing at the Nick Bolitary Academy and really witnessing her presence with her sister and her father, practicing in front of hundreds of kids that were looking at her um watching her every move, seeing her focus in her drive, and what she was able to to do on the tennis court. I mean, I was watching like the next twenty five years of my life, like just in front of my eyes.

Later to find out that just in a few years and four years, almost as if someone took me and put me in the in my television screen and said, there you are, You're going to be facing Serena Williams and it's the Wimbledon final. And I didn't belong in that situation. I wasn't nearly ready to compete against her at that stage. It was it was really a miracle

that I found myself playing against her then. And so when describing Serena Um and describing her physicality and how intimidating Um she was across the net, this is coming from someone that is seventeen years old, that was not as tall as I am today, that was far from being strong or experienced or ready to be in that position, and yet finding a way to win, and also noticing how I was the one that had nothing to lose in that match, and noticing that she had all the

pressure to win that match where actually should be the other way around. I mean, she's already accomplished. She's a two time defending champion at Wimbledon that year. She's done it, she's been there. I'm the one that has to prove myself, and yet I find myself in a position where I feel that there was a lot more on the line for her. So it was important to share that in the In the moment that I speak about in the locker room, I mean that's it's an intimate moment that

we share it's an individual sport. Towards the end of a tournament, I mean we're all sharing a locker room together. I mean you could be facing an opponent and have a locker room that's right next to each other. You're getting ready, you're changed. In an hour, you're supposed to go out and compete against each other and beat each other. And then it's the moment after we feel the energy between each other, like we feel that it's such a quiet moment that it's just us, and yet there are

thousands of people waiting for arrival on the court. It's so personal though, it's so private. Do you think if if Serena had written a memoir and I think she has well, or if she had talked about that, or if she had said that she heard you cry, Um, do you think you would have felt, gee, that's a little intrusive, or do you think you would have understood

her sharing that. I think if I wanted to write a memoir, and when I sat down to write this book, um, and as I said, I've read many memoirs of athletes. It was important for me to be open and honest about the way that I felt and the way that I mean I certainly felt the momentum shift in her attitude, the way that she carried herself playing against me following that final, there's no no doubt about very different. Yeah, I mean I definitely, I absolutely feel like she she

plays like there's a chip on her shoulder. Yeah, I mean, the way that she's able to raise her level, the confidence with which she portrays and plays. And I mean it's not me. I don't want to single myself out. You see that continuously. I mean, she's won the number of Grand Slams, she's one in a league of her own, um. But ultimately, yeah, there's definitely a level that's um that's much higher. So thirteen years later, would you say you

like Serena Williams. I respect Serena. Okay, let's let's talk about and how can I say that I like someone that's being me nineteen times? I mean that would be so silly. Okay, No, don't you agree? I don't know. I guess that would be hard. I mean, I'm super competitive too, so it's hard for me to like people

like I'm competitive with. On the other hand, I think like to me, respect is a very important word because I as an athlete I've been able to meet very famous, accomplished individuals in different fields, and the understanding that I have with with athletes is very different. It's on a very different level because you really from a physical from an emotional point of view, you really understand what it takes.

And that's why I use the word respect when I speak about Serena, because I know, I know how much it takes. I know how much she had to work in her upbringing without coming from any money, with having a tough childhood and making it going against adversity and being in a position of where she is now. I think, I mean, it would be very wrong for me to sit here and say that I have no respect for her.

I know what it's like, I know what it's like to be in a position of her power, to be as successful, to be known around the world, and all the intangibles that come with being a professional athletes. So from that point of view, there's a tremendous amount of respect. But that that doesn't make headlines. So I'm curious. I mean, it's funny when you watch players sort of shake hands

and you wonder what's really going through their heads. And because you are pretty myopic, and focused on your tennis and haven't built a lot of friendships among other players. Have you ever had an occasion to chat with her about anything. We've talked about a few different things and very random subjects, kind of depend on which time of our career it was. And I mean there was a point in time where she where I was out with injury for a long time she was playing, and then

she was out following. So there's a big chunk of time where we didn't face against each other and we didn't see each other a lot of the time, but we would, I mean, we would have friendly conversations in the locker room saying hello. And I mean there's we don't pass by each other very often, and we I mean we usually we practice, we play our match, we get our stuff. It's not like there's a you know,

community party in there where you you hang out. I mean you only spending ten fifteen minutes at a time in a locker room. So it was cordial, I mean absolutely, but not no, No, there's never a time where we we don't say hello to each other. Let's let's go back and talk about your game a little bit more. I know in the book you talk about your greatest skill being probably my will I will not quit, and and and you hate losing, And you also say you're

defining characteristic is that you're a ead. You've had this incredible career. You have won five Slams, including two French Opens, along with one Wimbledon, US Open Australian title, and you've won thirty five w t A titles and four I t F titles. John McEnroe called you one of the best the sport has ever seen, which is high praise coming from him. So where are your biggest strengths and weaknesses? What's so funny that's just that coming from him? What do you like? Do you like John? I do I

think he's yeah? I mean yeah, I do know I very much. You like him even more now that you're reminded of that, But well, I do very much. What would you say are your greatest strengths and weaknesses out on the court? Um, I think my strengths are the things that are not measured and then that are not numbered.

And I always joke with my coach about this. UM always tell him like, if you take me to the gym, if you take all the players in the draw and take us to the gym and make us run on the treadmill, or do like a competition with squats, or give us waits. I can guarantee you I would be on the bottom of each less like I did not grow up being the fastest or the strongest um or the quickest mover around the court. But there are other

intangibles that made me the player that I became. And I think it was an understanding of those weaknesses and knowing what I had to do and that I could improve them, that if I worked harder, that if I set my mind on those weaknesses, that I could get better. I knew that there were players that could have been more talented than me, that could have been faster than me, that if that outnumbered me. But all that that that

sometimes doesn't matter. You go out into the match and you don't need to be better than all the hundred and twenty players in the draw. It's only a matter of who's who you're playing against across the net that you have to be better than them. And so I think that's when I speak about will Um and the mindset that I that I had, I think that's what separated me from a lot of the players. Is that I realized that it was okay not to be the

best at all those other things. When you talk about weaknesses, like is there something specific that you try to compensate for that you've had to really work on to improve through the years, I mean by moving forward, you know, getting myself to the net, finishing the point off at the net. Being at the net was not something that I practiced and my coaches didn't really include in the drills that I was doing for some of the reasons. I worked on other parts of my game, but never

really coming forward to the net. And so that's something that I actually later in my career, like adding variety drop shots and lobs um and things like that is something that I feel like I've begun to work on sort of in my mid twenties. I guess let's talk about your grunting, which is really it's it's it's less grunting and more singing. I think I think that kind of go is them, right? Is that what you do?

Though it's not what is that about? You're making it sound a lot better than it is, don't you think, I mean, didn't I say? It is kind of a little single thing, right, You do it. How do you think, you say, I, I don't even want to try. I think you did such a great job. You made me look really good doing that, So you all right, no,

I UM. It's such an interesting thing that when you do something, and you start from a very young age, and that you continue doing that, you don't think twice about, but then you go into a press conference and then you get asked about it. A majority of the time, especially when I first came on tour, it's not a question that I get asked a lot about now, but so thank thank you for bringing it up. A majority

of the time. It's when you go to England and they somehow get out these measuring sticks how loud you are, and I was like, how do you like compare me to an airplane? Like how could I take you? Seriously? You're a journalist. I mean that's when you just have to shake your head. But but but it has become pretty controversial. I know that. In two thousand nine, Martin and Avagelova said grunting has reached an unacceptable level. It's cheating,

pure and simple. And I thought it was interesting that I saw a piece at the nick Military camp that they're starting to teach kids breathing techniques to avoid grunting. So do you think we're going to see a decrease in the future. And and I know you think people shouldn't make a big, big deal, but you know, every when I retire, I mean, I hope they don't implement that rule while I play, you know, But but I think for some people they do find it. Other players

find it aggravating. I think a lot of players are are used to by now when I play against them, because I've been I feel like I've been around for many years and they know what to expect. But I don't know if it's going to change, not by some of the matches that I've I've seen recently, I don't I don't know if it's going away anytime soon. We've got a lot of good questions from the audience, a

lot of big tennis fans here. What a shock. But before I want to ask you a couple of questions about your dad, because he brought you here from Russia when you were just six years old. I think Martin and average Alova discovered you in some ways are said, anyway, just this, this little girl is good. You need to get her to America, like five years old, I attended a tennis clinic and my father took me to Moscow.

We took a flight to Moscow from Sochi, where we were living, and and she spotted me there are a couple of hundred kids out there. And looking back at that moment, I don't understand, or I can't understand. I haven't actually asked her this question, but it's like, what do you see in a five year old? At five years old? I mean, they're the rackets usually bigger than they are, like the balls are, you know, all over the place. And and she told my father that I

had an opportunity to be a great tennis player. And so thank how that changed the trajectory of your life because I took her series sleep. They really did. And one of the things I say in the book and is we came across these people in our lives that literally shaped our path. And they were complete strangers to us, like we we knew maybe knew of them, such as Martina,

or we didn't know them at all. And you know, when you're young, they say you have to stay away from strangers, But it's the strangers that really shaped our beginnings. And that led me to where I went. Your dad, UM, was your coach for a long time and manager, and of course your father, UM. What tell me about those early years with your dad and your mom stayed behind in Russia? UM initially? So what was that like for you? And how did that? It must have really forged an

extraordinary relationship between the two of you. It really was. It was a special bond and I've come to appreciate it and understand it as I've gotten a little bit older. UM, more so because you hear a lot about an athlete, the relationship between an athlete and their parents, and how you know, when you get older, you want to distance yourself because there's so much dedication and so much influence

coming from the parents. And as I look back at my experience with my father, especially those first two years in America, I the decisions that he made were were to make my dream come true. And he didn't know much about tennis, but he guided me in all these different directions that led me to where I am. And I don't know. I think I sometimes asked why he had They had a normal life and back home, and they could have you know, they didn't have a lot

of money. He came to America with seven dollars. He almost had to not believe in this crazy story and not believe in this crazy dream. He just has to go with it. It's almost like he had to be a little bit stupid in order to live this dream. Um. I think he should write a book of his own. I mean I I no one would read it, probably, but poor dad. I would say that still, and he's

still part of your team very much, yeah, very much. So. After I won my third Grand Slam, I think there's just there's a part of me that was like, I want to feel what it would be like to do this on my own. You know, I've had my father along this this whole ride, and I don't know, I thought it was important to have a coach, to not have my dad around, even though he's still calls my coach every single day. I mean, my coach's phone bill is like, I'm like, send me the check. But he's Um,

he's still very much involved. So I'm going to do some audience questions and kind of intersperse them with a few more that I've come up with. But one person wants to know between the point when you look away from the player and say something to yourself, what do you say, oh, when I look at myself, So like, let's say you're you know you you? You play a point? And probably I think because I have this little routine where I go back and like I look like a robot.

I go back, I like look at my strings and I fiddle with them and then I go back to go back to serve. So well, it depends on the map. I mean, it depends on the situation of the match. And the reason I developed that sort of habit is because I would like, my attention span was short, so I'd be looking around and I wouldn't have focused, and so from a young age, I was like, Okay, I need to focus on something. So it ended up being my strings, and I just started this little walk back

and developed into a routine. So, but would you say something like I can't believe I did that. I'm an idiot or there or I use worse words than that. You're very kind if you could, okay, if you could go back in time, what advice would you give your seventeen year old self right after your first Grand Slam win. It's never going to be perfect, and that that victory it seemed like everything was perfect. Um, it seemed like a fairy tale, but none of it is. There's certainly

it's a journey. A lot of people saw my victory and said it was an overnight success. But that takes hours and days and weeks and years to develop, and and it takes just as long to get your next one and the next one, whether that's a grand Slam, whether it's another ambition that you have, so you know, it's it's not always rainbows and butterflies, is what I'll tell myself. Well, that was a nice, profound answer. So I want to ask you a shallow question to follow up.

Let's talk about your love life for a second. Thank you. I like how we took that interesting shortcut. What sort of man are you attracted to? This just turned into a Cosmo questionnaire? But I know you dated a number of professional athletes like Rigor Dimitro. Is that I'm pronouncing these names? Okay, Sasha buich Uh NBA player for the l A Lakers and a few other teams, Andy Roddick apparently Charlie Ever saw the son of Dick Ever saw who I know from NBC Sports, Adam, Should we just

go through the whole listening. Well, I was going to ask you who I who? I think? Can we stop? Who was the biggest jerk? I don't deserve this credit. No, that's not true. So I was gonna ask me all amazing, um, so why I'm not with them? I feel a little cheesy asking this. But are are you seeing anyone now? And that's a question from my husband, by the way, which makes me a little worried. But no, I am not seeing anyone, um consistently. But you're dating, having fun?

You have time to date? I did, yeah, okay, and then I packed my bags in April, was like see you. Yeah, that didn't go well. He also wanted to know if you date Jewish men I have Okay, okay, good, that's good. Well it is someone available to someone. Well he does know some people, but we can talk about that. Okay, we might as well continue on that. It sounds like your husband wants to set me up. Yeah, well maybe,

I hope. I hope. That's why he's so curious. I knew we were like alright, so I was trying to sell a few books and now I'm gonna have a boyfriend. You're not so bad? Um, So let me before I get to a couple of more audience questions. I know that you also wrote that you learned early on after signing on with Nike at age eleven, that tennis is a business as much as a sport, and I wanted

to share this because I thought this was interesting. Until last year, you were the highest paid female athlete for more than a decade straight, breaking in two hundred and eighty five million dollars in commercial endorsements. See now you're going to get a lot the days you've got me. Suddenly you just got even more popular. But I feel like calling my financial manager right now and saying, where is that money? Where is this money that everyone is

reporting on? Clearly, you know you're you're interested in business, and you're also very entrepreneurial. You you started a premium candy line called Sugar Pova in two thousand twelve. So what direction do you see yourself going after tennis when you're when you're through with your tennis career. Business is definitely something that I enjoy learning about, but more so about being UM, being a part of things that I'm passionate about and from a business perspective, UM, while starting

my own business. And you know, I didn't know much about the food industry, didn't know much about sweets. But I hired people around me to really to help me understand to grow my business. I mean, although I was the one that was paying the checks, I wanted to gain information from them. And so know, there's there are

elements of of learning and growth. And as I said, um, I'm still only thirty years old, and although I've been successful because I've done what I've done on the court, there's still a lot of potential for growth for me. Like I really believe that you can be a better you know, a better business person, you can be a better leader in all those things. It seems like you're interested in fashion. You're definitely very active on social media.

You have a lot of Instagram followers. I follow you, and Um, given sort of the and your interest in and in business, it sounds to me you might have the makings of a of a quote unquote lifestyle brand. You know, somebody who talks about a lot of different things and wellness and fashion, etcetera. We've seen sort of people emerge in that space. Is that something that interests you.

I've always had a difficult connection with the word brand because it's a very I don't know what you feel about the word brand, but it feels very like corporate and robotic and not very human to me, and it's very much the opposite of what I would want to portray. And I mean, I think a lot of you know, branding and marketing and those those tool words. Um, they stem from decisions, like decisions on where you see yourself

what you want to do. Fortunately, I've been in a position where I can make those decisions of who I want to associate myself with, but that doesn't necessarily create my name into a brand. It's not the way that I see it. I know it's the way that it's portrayed, but the word itself is I don't know. I don't feel great about it. Okay, Um, for here's another audience question for US young tennis players. Do you have a message for us that you wish you knew when you

were a kid? Besides don't do it? Really, you wouldn't tell that, No, I'm kidding. No. Sometimes I occasionally I feel like that I get off the court and I've lost a tough match and it's just it's brutal, and that's what I think, But then I get up the next day and I get back on the court, and I'm like, I want to continue doing this and I

want to be great. But I think there comes in a point in our lives or we really have to dedicate ourselves if we're being if we want to get to that next level, and we want to dedicate ourselves to that one thing that we do. The one thing I noticed when I came to the United States were the amazing ability to have opportunities, which really helped me. But it's also a little bit of a distraction because you have you have a chance to be okay at one thing, to be good at something, to be social

and another thing. And ultimately, if you have a real goal of where you want to go in one particular area, whether it's a sport or finance or another job and opportunity, ultimately you've got to make a decision on what it is that you love and what it is you want to grow with, because it requires ridiculous It takes, It takes commitment and and it and real and real repetition no matter what it is, so you better love it.

I think it starts with finding something that you love and maybe Look, we all grow out of it as well, Like we we have a passion for it, and and there's something that happens within the process and we lose that that touch, and we lose that feel and love or what we were doing. But you still love tennis.

I interviewed Andrea Agassi when he wrote his book, and I know you read it after you broke yours were you were afraid that I didn't want I I did want other memoirs to influence my I guess my writing or my ideas or the way that I wanted, um my thoughts to be on paper. But he told me that he hated tennis. That um, you know that he was playing it from such an early age that he started to hate it. But you never hated it. I

never hated the game of tennis. I think they're definitely there are moments where there are a lot of things that come with tennis that I don't necessarily like. Hate is a very strong word. And um, the tennis aspect, like the feeling of being good and feeling like you can be better. I don't know. I've always said this, and like as a woman is just a very nice feeling and um, and I love that. Well, we're almost out of time, but we have We're going to do

a quick lightning round because I thought it would be fun. Um, So I'm gonna scar Yeah, I know. So I'm just going to name some people and you can just tell me what it instantly comes to your head. Okay, this is skin Billy, Jen King, oh legend Martina Navratalova inspirational to me. Venus Williams, a pioneer for our sport, for the fight for equality. Roger Federer, oh legend um, just spool of class, elegance, rough and nadal um, grit, grit

and desire and never stops fighting. My husband didn't think I should ask this, but you were going to say. Your husband is getting a lot of your getting a lot of shout out. I don't know, like this is getting awkward. He's here. No, he didn't think I should ask this, but I'm curious. I'm fascinated the dolls ritual. I mean what I wanted you to tell me what it is. You know what it is. It's he's pulling and touching and the hair and the when you see I mean, do a lot of players have these sort

of thing that's like a superstition. Yes, have you ever asked him about it? Definitely not. Okay, if I'm going to have a conversation with Rafael Nadal, I don't think I'm going to ask him why he does that with his shorts. Okay, jim Jimmy Connors, would you? I might, Actually it wouldn't. It would not be my first thing out of the gate, But I cannot be it. Okay, I mean, how long have a conversation are you expecting to have I'm talking to him. I'm going to talk

to him for a good long time. Yeah, okay, So Jimmy Connors, oh, for a short period of time. And it didn't work. It didn't work out. Um. He was an interesting character and someone that I admired. No, I really don't laugh, because I mean in a very genuine it's so sincere. Um. He I love listening to him speak, and I still do, I think. Um. I was mesmerized by his presence, like I didn't want to miss a ball. I love listening to every word he said. Um, so inspirational.

When he became my my only coach was when I realized that it just wasn't a good fit. But from the things that he said, just based on his experience. UM, to me, that was valuable. John McEnroe, crazy Donald Trump? But did you who did you say Donald the President? I didn't hear you. Okay, real quick, waite, Who's next? Putin? Yes? I knew. Yeah, I just threw myself into that situation, didn't I. UM, do I need to answer? You brought it up? I know I did. Um. What do I

think of him? Um? I see him? I think as everyone else, as as a character almost from a distance that um those born in Russian and spent the first few years of my life there. I feel like everything I know about the country, about its history, is very much from Afar, and so I think I see it also as an audience, you know, as this character that is being portrayed by by everyone else without knowing much. And last name Maria Sharapova, M. I mean your husband

told me to say unstoppable. Um, Like, as we did a little little sixty second interview for for her Instagram and and then one of that was one of the last questions, and he's like, you didn't say unstoppable. Okay, I'll say it next time. So well, Maria Sharapova, it was so fun to talk to you. That's it for us in two thousand and seventeen, May old acquaintance be

forgot and ever brought to mind something like that. Thanks so much to the team behind this podcast, Gianna Palmer, our producer, Gared O'Connell, our audio engineer, Nora Richie, our production assistant, Alison Bresnik, who captains our social media ship, Well done, captain, and Emily been A contributes to the pod from her steam post at Katie Kirk Media. Also Betamas for all her help in making sure that I get to the studio on time. Brian and I are

the show's executive producers. Mark Phillips wrote our theme music. But last, but not least, thank you very much to my friends, and they are my friends at the Street Why Carrying. My daughter went to preschool there, and the y is a great New York institution. But thank you all for hosting and recording this conversation. Please feel free to email us with your guest ideas. Brian and I would love to hear from you, and so would Gianna

and Jarrett and the rest of the aforementioned crew. You can ask questions, you can give us feedback at Comments at current podcast dot com, or please leave us a voicemail at nine to nine, two to four, four six three seven. You can find Brian on Twitter at Goldsmith b and if you search Katie Kuric. I am everywhere on social media people, So I'm very excited for what the new year has in store for our podcast. We have a lot of great guests and even some surprises

in store for you. We've been working very hard find the scenes to make sure we kick off two thousand eighteen in style. Until then, Happy new everybody, and we'll see you next year.