Understanding attractiveness.
When Maria Sharapova said goodbye to tennis, one of the most titled tennis players in history, Martina Navratilova (on whose advice Yuri Sharapov, according to legend, decided to take his daughter to the USA) spoke about the influence of the Russian: “When I finished my career in 2006, they told me : “You need to work on your personal brand.” And I asked: “What do you mean?” At 50, I didn't know what that meant. How's Coca-Cola? What does “personal brand” mean? Am I a brand? So she was ahead of her time and benefited from it; it shows what a versatile person she is.”
Sharapova's personal brand is truly legendary. Thanks to him, she became the highest paid athlete in the world for 11 years in a row, and earned $325 million during her career, although she was far from the most titled. And this brand is so in demand that major collaborations (with Nike, Porsche and Evian) will continue after the end of his career.
And the process of building this brand showed both the challenges that successful women in sports face and the deftness with which Sharapova and her team turned those challenges to their advantage.
Athletes are constantly objectified. And in Sharapova they were also looking for a new Kournikova
More than one study has shown that discussions of female athletes in the media often focus not on their results and skills, but on their appearance, personal life, and so on. Not only journalists are to blame for this, but also content consumers, among whom the demand for women’s sports is higher than for sports.
Now the situation is slowly, but still improving. However, when Sharapova was just starting out, this problem was extremely relevant. And Maria, who became a sex symbol from the first days of the tour, could feel its scale. Looking at it with modern eyes, the interest in her appearance was a little sickening.
When she made her Wimbledon debut in 2003 at age 16, the British tabloids called her match against Playboy star Ashley Erkleroad a “battle of the beauties.” At the press conference after this match, almost a third of the questions were devoted to Maria's screams, whether it was difficult for her to concentrate on sports with such an appearance, and her readiness to replace Anna Kournikova as the main beautiful blonde of tennis.
– How ready are you to fill the gap left by Kournikova?
“I don’t need to prepare for this.” I mind my own business, try to think about myself, and not try to be someone else, fill in some gaps.
She answered roughly the same question at the US Open, and in general, during her first year and a half on the tour, she was asked about a number of vital things: for example, why she doesn’t smile on the court and why she blows kisses to fans after matches.
At that time, even the head of the WTA, Larry Scott, proudly said: “Maria is becoming an icon. She has an aura. Appearance and other intangible assets attract sponsors. And she's very attractive."
Kournikova (who, by the way, was the first racket of the world in doubles and earned respect with a bunch of excellent results) was in many ways the prototype of Sharapova - Maria’s father even wrote an article about her when he was planning to move to the USA. But Sharapova and her team consciously tried to distance themselves from comparisons with Anna by creating the image of a champion. Agent Max Eisenbud, for example, organized an interview for Maria only after victories in junior tournaments - so that journalists would talk about the game and perceive her as a champion.
Women's sports must be sexy. Sharapova complied, but without zeal
But that didn't mean Sharapova didn't use her looks and sexuality to promote her personal brand. During those same junior years, she played a lot in Japan because, according to Eisenbud, there is a big market there and they love blondes. And after winning Wimbledon, it was with short-term contracts in Japan that Maria quickly monetized her first big success. And at the same time, she was collecting a portfolio of serious sponsors who would provide for her for the rest of her life.
Sharapova said she had no intention of becoming a model, but at the same time she had a contract with the IMG modeling department. And on the set, she rolled her eyes, exchanged glances with her mother, but endured while they smeared sunscreen on her (at this time, other participants in the process were bashfully dumbfounded in their cups of coffee), and then gave out exactly what the director demanded of her. This is documented in an article about her filming a Canon commercial at age 17.
Then Sharapova convinced that it was not important for her to be the beauty of tennis, and in 2006 she still posed in a bikini for Sports Illustrated. But this shoot was a rare one of its kind for her. After that, she continued to win and build the image of a champion, almost moving away from overt displays of sexuality.
As a result, she developed the ideal image of a modern athlete for her partners, which was perfectly described in The New Yorker: “The friction between the smoothness of her brand - its sterile sex appeal and hint of snobbery - and the bold, tenacious nature of her game made her exciting.”
It was due to this that she overcame Kournikova’s legacy. Therefore, the provocation of a New Zealand journalist before the Australian Open 2011 did not look provocative, but pathetic and completely irrelevant.
– Do you ever hang out with Anna Kournikova?
-You're the guy from New Zealand, right?
- Yes.
- God, you're stalking me (laughter).
– If you love, it doesn’t count.
– Believe me, a little counts (laughter).
– Is there a club of Russian beauties that you go to?
- No. I didn't know that I was included in it. But no.
Later in the column, the journalist explained that the question about Kournikova was “fair.” But by that time, comparisons with Anna were made only by people most divorced from tennis reality, because Sharapova had long ceased to be the new Kournikova or simply a “Russian beauty.”
Paparazzi leaked racy photos of Maria Sharapova online
Russian tennis player, former first racket of the world, one of ten women in history who has the so-called “career helmet”, one of the leaders in advertising earnings among the world’s athletes, Honored Master of Sports of Russia, 31-year-old Maria Sharapova was photographed by the paparazzi on vacation . At the moment, our famous compatriot is vacationing with her boyfriend, and part-time businessman, co-founder of the Paddle8 auction house, Alex Gilks in Italy.
Correspondents of the Express-Novosti news agency inform their readers that Sharapova went on vacation immediately after she “flew out” of Wimbledon, unable to get past the first round. However, it was not this circumstance that attracted the attention of the news agency, but the fact that the tennis player was supposed to take part in the tournament, which will be held on July 30 in San Jose, America. But, since Maria does not train, but spends time with her lover on the beaches of sunny Italy, then we can assume that the American tournament will remain without Sharapova’s attention.
The tennis player Maria Sharapova herself, who ranks 22nd in the world rankings, does not go unnoticed by the public. And the ubiquitous paparazzi skillfully fuel this interest by making private information available to the public. So now they managed to photograph a couple of lovers, exactly at the moment when a man tenderly kisses his passion on the bottom. However, a whole selection of piquant photos have appeared on the Internet, in which a couple carefreely eats pizza, washes it down with white wine and basks in the sun. At the same time, Gilkes does not forget to give Maria certain signs of attention from the category that is given when young people are sure that no one sees them from the outside.
Separately, it is worth noting the fact that Sharapova was initially wearing a black two-piece swimsuit. But one day the girl decided to sunbathe topless and got rid of her top. If we take into account the fact that information has appeared on the Internet that a ring allegedly appeared on the athlete’s ring finger, meaning nothing more than the imminent wedding of a Russian woman and an English collector, then they have absolutely nothing to hide from each other. But the paparazzi were left out of work, since they managed to photograph Maria Sharapova topless, but only from the back.
#Maria Sharapova #Mari Sharapova #Photo of Sharapova #Sharapova 2018 #Sharapova photo
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Kournikova is a legend. She was a super junior, didn't win anything and still changed tennis
And this conversation also demonstrates the skill for which journalists fell in love with Sharapova: to briefly and efficiently put in place a man who perceives her image as an invitation to inappropriate questions. For example, the author of a book about Novak Djokovic, Frenchwoman Carole Bouchard, explains: “That’s why I will always respect her very much. She never used it [her looks] and made some male colleagues feel like they should stay away from her.”
On the other hand, Sharapova achieved all this by supporting the classic and acceptable ideals of femininity for the patriarchal world of big business - consciously or not. For example, in 2014, she said that she could not lift anything heavier than three kilograms - thereby moving away from the intimidating image of a strong athlete.
In general, Maria, in building her personal brand, followed the path of monetization of femininity that the WTA as a whole had followed before her. Says sociologist Anita Stahl, who developed an entire course dedicated to Sharapova: “I’m literally torn by this sexualization of women’s sports. Of course, I would like to see these strong women valued solely for their athletic ability and not for their appearance, so that sponsors support the strongest regardless of how photogenic they are. It’s sad, but so far things aren’t quite working out that way.
But one of the reasons why female athletes are paid more in tennis than in other sports is the attractiveness and femininity of people like Chris Evert and Anna Kournikova. Women's tennis owes a lot to the fact that it is recognized as sexy."
Sharapova may have blazed a new trail in an already sexy and rich tennis
In 2005, Maria's coach Robert Landsrop reflected on how women's tennis would change: “Unless the chick is so ugly that she can't get a contract, then the days of endless running after the ball are over. Because tennis gets tough when you have a lot of money."
But Maria showed time after time that this may not be the case. She already had a ton of money when she had shoulder surgery in 2008 and came back. She had a lot of money when she came back from disqualification. And she had a lot of money for the last two years, when she desperately and unsuccessfully tried to squeeze out the last victories.
But she still struggled, just like when she came to the United States with her father and they only had $700.
Maria's agent Max Eisenbud summed up the image they built together: “Let's not kid ourselves - she's tall, blonde, very attractive, and that's one of the reasons she attracts attention. But more importantly, she wins. That's what makes her Maria Sharapova."
Sharapova knew from childhood what she wanted from life, and already at the age of 13 she reasoned sensibly that she first needed to win Wimbledon, and millions of sponsorships would follow. Her looks certainly helped her become a superstar. But it is foolish to say that this is the only reason for its success. Sharapova had to work not only to make the most of her appearance, but also to ensure that it did not overshadow her results and victories.
It seems she succeeded.
Maria Sharapova now
In 2020, Maria competed at the Australian Open, reaching the 4th round and beating Caroline Wozniacki, Harriet Dart, Rebecca Peterson and Alison Risk. At the US Championships, she failed in her battle with Serena Williams. Another unpleasant surprise for the bookmakers was the defeat from Anett Kontaveit.
At the end of December, Sharapova defeated Australian Aila Tomljanovic at an exhibition tournament in Abu Dhabi, after which fans began to bet on Maria’s success in the next championship, but this was not destined to come true.
In February 2020, after losing to American Jennifer Brady, Maria announced her retirement from her sports career. She wrote about this to fans in a column for Vogue magazine and in a touching post on Instagram. Sharapova explained that she was retiring from the sport due to age and injuries and that she was ready to conquer new heights, without specifying what she was talking about.
![Diana Sharapova and the group "N****" [African-Americans]](https://9kino.ru/wp-content/uploads/diana-sharapova-i-gruppa-n-afroamerikancy-330x140.jpg)
