In 2004, Maria Sharapova produced one of the greatest stories the Wimbledon championships has ever seen.
At just 17 years of age, Sharapova defeated defending champion Serena Williams in the final to hoist the famous trophy in SW19.
She became the third youngest woman ever to win Wimbledon, and only the second Russian woman ever to claim a major title.
Sharapova denied Williams a three-peat and ultimately cracked the WTA top ten for the very first time with her triumph.
Despite that victory changing her life completely, the five-time Grand Slam champion says there was another win in her career that was comparable to her heroics at Wimbledon in 2004.
Maria Sharapova recalls winning Roland Garros in 2012
When asked on The David Rubenstein Show if anything ever replicated her first major win, Sharapova said: “Winning the French Open to achieve a Career Grand Slam.”
Following years of clay-court struggles, Sharapova finally won Roland Garros in 2012 and became just the 10th woman in history to achieve the Career Grand Slam, having won each of the four major tournaments.
- 2004 – Sharapova wins Wimbledon for the first time
- 2006 – Sharapova wins the US Open for the first time
- 2008 – Sharapova wins the Australian Open for the first time
- 2012 – Sharapova wins Roland Garros for the first time
“I didn’t think that I would feel the strength of that victory, but it really felt good because it was a surface that was so challenging and it exposed all my weaknesses.
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“As an athlete that is playing in front of thousands of people, when you know that there is a particular weakness in your game and you’re able to turn that around in front of people and make that into one of your strengths was a really strong moment.”
Sharapova went on to win the French Open for a second time in 2014.
Maria Sharapova reveals what she did after winning Wimbledon
Discussing her Wimbledon win, Sharapova said: “A lot changed [after winning], for the good and for the bad, in that moment.
“You’re such a young girl and all the things that come with it that you’ve never really expected in your life.
“You know, an opportunity to say yes to so many things when actually you should be saying no and getting back on the horse and doing the things that made you a champion on that day, because while you’re winning, everyone else is training to beat you in the next tournament.
“I flew back to Los Angeles shortly afterwards. My coach was there, and my family and I used to stay when we visited him. We didn’t have that much money at the time, but we’d stay in one of these hotels.
“And after I won Wimbledon, my agent upgraded us to a hotel, and it had this yellow rubber duck next to the bath, and I called him and I said: ‘Winning Wimbledon is the best thing that’s ever happened to me,’ and that’s coming from a teenager’s perspective.”
Sharapova never managed to win Wimbledon for a second time, but she did make the final in 2011, where she lost to Petra Kvitova.
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