Maria Sharapova Reveals If She Misses Playing Professional Tennis After 2020 Retirement

Maria Sharapova is opening up about her life post-retirement.

In a new interview, the 35-year-old former pro tennis player – who officially retired in February 2020 – revealed that she doesn’t miss playing professionally at all, and really enjoys watching from the stands these days.

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I love it. I love having an outsider’s perspective,” Maria shared with People. “I love watching the new generations unfold, and the sport in general. In fact, I think the U.S. Open is the only tennis event that I’ve been to in person since I retired. It’s a really special one, with the energy of the crowds there.”

Maria is a five-time Grand Slam champion, who won the U.S. Open herself back in 2006 when she was 19-years-old.

Since her retirement in 2020, Maria welcomed son Theodore in 2022 with fiance Alexander Gilkes and she’s been loving her life off the tennis court.

“I’m very happy with where I am at this stage of life,” Maria gushed. “I appreciate what the sport has taught me and where it’s taken me, but I definitely love seeing it from the outside now.”

Maria won’t just be a spectator at this year’s U.S. Open, she is also going to be the captain of the SS Evian, which is a floating tennis court that will sail up and down the Hudson River during the Men’s Finals on September 10.

“Evian has been one of my longest standing partnerships, and I’ve loved it and how it’s evolved,” Maria shared. “They’ve also been one of the sponsors of the US Open for 35 years, and I always thought hydration was important when I was competing but it’s almost even more important now that I’m a mother.”

“You learn so many lessons as a professional tennis player, and one of the biggest ones is how to handle yourself whether you win or whether you lose,” Maria continued. “There are so many things you can’t control, and that’s OK. You have to learn to accept that, which for me was always a work in progress.

She added, “But you also learn how you take care of your body, and ask yourself, are you eating nutritious foods? Are you drinking enough water? So all those components of being an athlete are just incredible educational tools for taking you to different parts of your life, like parenthood.”

The 2023 U.S. Open is taking place from August 28 through September 10.