If everything was going smoothly you would never build character.
~ Maria Sharapova
Former world's #1 tennis player.
There is no doubt whatsoever that Maria Sharapova's height benefited her greatly in her playing abilities. The average height of female Wimbledon champions increased from 5 feet 7 inches (170 cm) in the 1960s up to 5'11" (181 cm) in the 2000s -- so there must be some good reason behind it.
Maria is huge -- she is one of the tallest female tennis players of all time. Only a handful of female players are taller than her -- like the Czech tennis player Eva Hrdinova who is around 6'3".
Now Maria Sharapova's height was listed as 6'2" (188 cm) throughout her career, and she looked like it.
Though it is only when you compare her height to Roger Federer (6'1"), Rafael Nadal (6ft ¼ in), Novak Djokovic (6ft 1 ½ ), her arch nemesis Serena Williams (5'9"), and Venus Williams (½), etc., it looks like that Maria might be just a bit under the 6'2" mark.
The real height of Maria Sharapova is
6 ft 1½ in (187 cm)
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| Naomi Osaka standing with Serena Williams (5 ft 9 in) and Maria Sharapova (6 ft 1½ in) |
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| Maria Sharapova standing shoulder to shoulder with male players: Dominic Thiem (6'¼"), Rafael Nadal (6'¼"), Roger Federer (6'1"), Cristiano Ronaldo (6'1"), Novak Djokovic (6'1½"), and Andy Murray (6'2") |
I had so many outs in my career. I could have said, I don’t need this. I have money; I have fame; I have victories; I have Grand Slams. But when your love for something is bigger than all those things, you continue to keep getting up in the morning when it’s freezing outside, when you know that it can be the most difficult day, when nothing is working, when you feel like the belief sometimes isn’t there from the outside world, and you seem so small. But you can achieve great things when you don’t listen to all those things.
~ Maria Sharapova