How Maria Sharapova Achieved a Net Worth

If you are a tennis fan, you have most certainly heard of Maria Sharapova. Even though she was out of the scene for a few years due to a performance substance ban and then an injury, she is still an iconic name in the sport. She has certainly won his fair share of prize money for the WTA tour through the years as a Russian born tennis professional, but there is so much more to her success than that. She continues on the road to her come back, so her earnings of late have been sorely reduced. The great news for the tennis world, however, is that she is continuing to perfect her craft. For now, Maria Sharapova can rest easy knowing that she has a cool $135 million in the bank. Here is how she got there.

Her Career to this Point

Maria Sharapova started to play tennis at a very early age. She was born in Russia back in 1987. It would not take long for the world to realize she had quite a bit of skill, not to mention her parents. It was because of this that she was sent to the IMG Academy in Florida at the tender age of seven. That would in 1994. It was actually at that point that she began to receive professional-level training in tennis. The rest, as they say, is history.

It was at the age of 13, back in 2000, that she first played a junior tournament. That was the first year that was eligible. Just two years later, she entered her first professional tournament on the WTA Tour. While she was not a household name at that time, it would only take one year for her to make a tremendous mark on the sport. In 2003, she was able to gain entry into every one of the four Grand Slams. This means that she was able to play and get a great deal of experience in the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, and the U.S. Open. While she would make relatively early exits in each of these, she did make it to the fourth round of Wimbledon. That would have her upsetting Jelena Dokic in an earlier round. This would cause the world to take notice of her. It was also the start of her ability to earn prize money, contributing to the nest egg that she has today.

It was 2004 that saw Maria Sharapova really breakthrough on the WTA Tour. This was when she advanced farther in any tournament than she ever had before, getting all the way to the quarterfinals of the French Open. At Wimbledon, she would do even better. She ended up beating Serena Williams in the championship that year, further solidifying her name on the big stage. It was later that year that she actually beat Serena Williams again in the WTA Championship. Ironically, that would be the last time that has ever beaten Serena Williams, but that has not stopped her from making massive amounts of money in the process.

Endorsements Equal Massive Amounts of Money

To begin, it should be noted that Maria Sharapova has earned an impressive $38 million in money from her tennis playing ability That is quite a tidy sum, and it would be enough for most people to just rest and enjoy the rest of their life. As Maria Sharapova has a net worth of $135 million, however, you know that this was not the case for her. Even as a child, she was already signing endorsement deals, many of which she maintains to this day. She has also created her own companies, mostly in fashion, which have done extremely well.

Her major sponsorship is with Nike, who first signed her back in 1998. At the time, she was only 11 years of age. Nike would do quite well with that deal, as would Maria Sharapova. She just recently ended an eight-year deal with them that earned her roughly $70 million in the process. That is only the beginning. She has also endorsed such products as Porsche, Tag Heuer, and Evian. It was in 2014 that she developed her own lineup of skincare products. Prior to that, she was proud to open her own chocolate company in 2012.

The Future

What does the future hold for Maria Sharapova? Only time will tell. She has had a bit of a setback. It was in 2016 that she was given a two year ban for testing positive for meldonium. This was a drug that the WTA had recently banned, even though Maria Sharapova had been taking it for years to treat a magnesium deficiency. The ban would later be reduced to one year, but the damage to her image was rather telling. Two companies, Nike and Tag Heuer, actually suspended their endorsement deals with her. Nike would later return, but one has to wonder how much this actually impacted her ability to earn even more money these past few years.

That notwithstanding, Maria Sharapova still has $135 million in earnings through the years. She is young and still has quite a career in front of her. She may not be able to play tennis much longer, but there is a great deal else going for her as well. Time will tell how much money she actually makes before she decides to hang it all up.