“If you don’t like the attention, don’t win”: When Maria Sharapova was unfazed by popularity boost as she ranked beside Jennifer Lopez, Britney Spears
Maria Sharapova once ranked as the third most popular search term on Yahoo!, trailing only music icons Jennifer Lopez and Britney Spears. However, the Russian remained unfazed in the face of the overwhelming attention on her.
Sharapova was catapulted to super stardom at just 17 years of age when she stunned the tennis world by pulling off a remarkable 6-1, 6-4 upset over two-time defending champion Serena Williams in the 2004 Wimbledon final.
Becoming only the second Russian woman to win a Major singles title, she also broke into the WTA top 10 for the first time in her career.Riding the wave of popularity following her maiden Grand Slam win, Maria Sharapova embarked on a media tour in the United States.
Despite the pressure of appearing on national television, the then-17-year-old maintained her composure. In a 2004 interview with Sports Illustrated, her agent Max Eisenbud revealed that they had been “preparing” for such moments for years.
“We’ve been preparing for this for years. We did Craig Kilborn’s show last year, and the thinking was that if you mess up on that, who knows about it?” Eisenbud said.
Sharapova’s interviews were such a success that Eisenbud was immediately inundated with a flurry of requests for her to appear on other shows.
The Russian’s agent humorously remarked that the same shows may have initially doubted her ability to speak English.
“They probably saw her name and figured she didn’t speak English,” he said.
Maria Sharapova’s rise in popularity, evidenced by her becoming the most searched term on Yahoo! after Jennifer Lopez and Britney Spears, was set to earn her $10 million in endorsements that year.
However, the Russian took the immense attention in stride, asserting that if one didn’t want to be in the spotlight, they shouldn’t win.
