[Haseo.]

Honestly, I tried to give her the benefit of the doubt and thought would be able to come back to top 20 level at least. But after being so awful for so long after her ban, I started to doubt her greatness before the ban. Like before the ban, I considered her to be greater than Clijsters and Davenport because Maria had the better resume obviously but now I don't think she is better than these two at all. I feel she is just slightly above the Azarenka-tier in terms of greatness now and even then, you probably got some people who probably question her greatness over Vika.

 

[WhatTheDeuce]

A little bit.

I still have some respect for what she achieved and her undeniable tenacity as a competitor, but she's clearly not the same player without the help. I honestly thought she would pick up where she left off and really shut all the doubters up, but it's just not happening.

 

[Smite]

Same.

No way she's greater than Hingis or Davenport or Clijsters.

Should barely be above Li Na or Vika.

Edit: I will say, she was gone for quite awhile and her body was already letting her down before the ban. I wonder how much of this is Father Time stepping in.

But yea, it's clear those pills inflated her results somewhat. Who knows what would have happened if she misplaced them before her match against Halep.

 

[Absolute10]

We will never know how she would have performed without Meldonium all her career until the ban.
Don't tell me Meldonium is not a PED.

 

[Parisman]

You mean fake greatness, right??

 

[Haseo.]

Same.

No way she's greater than Hingis or Davenport or Clijsters.

Should barely be above Li Na or Vika.

Yeah, that's where I have her now.

 

[goat]

I can see her career in separate existences. Her career prior to melodonium becoming illegal was a successful career especially on the marketing front, she will go down as a grand slam champion but she will be remembered for alot more than that - particularly when reflecting ob this period. Her post ban career, although i feel i am not as emotionally invested in sharapova as others are on this forum, if it were to end now would appear like something similar to Hingis final singles comback (disregarding fed cup v poland). Uneventful, over hyped and leaving a bitter taste of a career that once was. Unfortunately unlike Hingis, Sharapova isnt as talented as Martina and doubkes appears out of the qiestion, lol. Fortunately for Sharapova she is lightyears ahead of Hingis in terms of marketability and entrepreneurship

 

[Tennis_addict]

I never thought Sharapova was greater than Davenport, Hingis, and Clijsters. Her peak level and skill set has always been significantly lower than these players. Yeah she has an extra Slam than Kim for example, but did anyone really think Maria was a better player? Lol. Of course, after the drug scandal, there is no question that she doesn't belong in the conversation.

 

[Mario101]

Her career is built on outlasting and outfighting opponents. How much did the shady drugs help her over the years? I think huge amount

 

[goat]

I also think its inappropriate and short sighted to compare her post ban career with players who are not playing anymore and retired when meldomonium was legal. They were playing in the exact same conditions and we are unaware of their supplement use. It doesnt provide logical reasoning and has too many flaws

 

[ishgever]

The thing that most annoys me is the wildcards.

It's like she had a decision to make about what was more important to her: her ego or her career. She clearly chose her ego.

It's clear that she isn't near the level of tournament she's been entering. Playing smaller events and working her way up would have shown her that, and maybe made her reschedule a bit. She still seems to do her scheduling as if she's top 5.

I honestly think she might be playing a bit better if she had started lower down and worked her way up the hard way.

Regardless, given her achievements, you obviously still have to put her above Vika, Davenport, Li, Kerber, Wozniacki, Pierce, Kvitova et al. But one has to wonder what Meldonium did for those achievements. Even before her ban, I got the feeling that Kerber and Vika had her measure, and Wozniacki had a habit of beating her in big matches. So I really do think that her career has been inflated by a) her image, and b) Meldonium.

I see 2004-16 Sharapova as a completely different entity to 2017-2018 Sharapova. The former was for sure a great (despite her obvious weaknesses in her game), but the latter one is barely top 40.

 

[VeeJJ]

Ya’ll :lol:

She had a bad loss playing a shit match. Relax.

I’m gonna wait till years end to reserve my final judgment on where she lands.

Mentally she’s never been weak so I want to see if that is still there. Bad losses happen. Playing like shit happens.

If her ability to bounce back is gone, then I’ll call it on her.

 

[Haseo.]

Ya’ll :lol:

She had a bad loss playing a shit match. Relax.

I’m gonna wait till years end to reserve my final judgment on where she lands.

Mentally she’s never been weak so I want to see if that is still there. Bad losses happen. Playing like shit happens.

If her ability to bounce back is gone, then I’ll call it on her.

This is a fair stance I guess. She isn't retired yet after all.

 

[KCatty]

Pre-ban, I was never a huge fan, but I respected her mental toughness and her business empire.

When everything blew up, I was disgusted by the bizarre way it all played out, and the extent to which she took zero responsibility for her situation.

After the ban, I find it pathetic the extent to which she is clearly over tennis and is simply using it as a mechanism to drive exposure for financial gain. For all her insta posts in the gym, she clearly isn't fit and lacks stamina. Instead of being humble and working her way back, she wildcards her way around the circuit, which is clearly doing her no favors. The Bein announcer today suggested that she needs to head back to the ITF/125ks for a bit. Girl has wayyyyyyy too much ego for that.

I genuinely enjoy each and every dragging this has-been gets.

 

[Pão Não]

I can see her career in separate existences. Her career prior to melodonium becoming illegal was a successful career especially on the marketing front, she will go down as a grand slam champion but she will be remembered for alot more than that - particularly when reflecting ob this period. Her post ban career, although i feel i am not as emotionally invested in sharapova as others are on this forum, if it were to end now would appear like something similar to Hingis final singles comback (disregarding fed cup v poland). Uneventful, over hyped and leaving a bitter taste of a career that once was. Unfortunately unlike Hingis, Sharapova isnt as talented as Martina and doubkes appears out of the qiestion, lol. Fortunately for Sharapova she is lightyears ahead of Hingis in terms of marketability and entrepreneurship

Sharapova would kill now to have Hingis' 2006-2007 results: 1 YEC qualification, 2 Tier I titles, top wins, 3 Slam QFs, and other titles

 

[BlueTrees]

It diminished as soon as she was exposed for cheating. She's no more of a tennis champion than any poster on this forum :shrug:

 

[Lord Choc Ice]

She was a slam champ and #1 before she started using Mildronate so let's not go overboard. However, I still voted 'a little bit'.

 

[Lord Choc Ice]

Same.

No way she's greater than Hingis or Davenport or Clijsters.

Should barely be above Li Na or Vika.

Edit: I will say, she was gone for quite awhile and her body was already letting her down before the ban. I wonder how much of this is Father Time stepping in.

But yea, it's clear those pills inflated her results somewhat. Who knows what would have happened if she misplaced them before her match against Halep.

Genuinely think Halep would've found a way to lose that match anyway :shrug:. Didn't comeback Maria beat Halep as well??

 

[Sam L]

Not one bit. Everyone grows old and declines. Look at the last 4 multiple teenaged grand slam champs aside from Maria, Hingis, Seles, Graf, Mandlíková. None of them won a slam as a 30-year old.

 

[bobito]

As I understand it Meldonium is supposed to improve your stamina. With that in mind it's worth remembering that she won her first two slams by straight setting Serena and Justine in the finals. So there's no question in my mind that the pre-shoulder op Sharapova was mighty fine player with or without a little chemical help.

But there's no getting away from it, if she ends her career with 5 slams and a bunch of P5s and PMs but nothing more than one or two Internationals post drugs bust, that will be seen as suggestive. Her fans will no doubt consider that unfair while her detractors will see it as damning. The truth is probably somewhere in between.