The timing of this memoir was nearly perfect in the sporting world because Sharapova showed many people that, given two options: one, crawl into a hole when things go wrong, or two, face a tough situation head-on even if you’re scared, she will always choose the latter. She is known for her resilience and determination on the tennis court; she never gives up. So when she faced the hardest moment in her sporting career – failing a drug test – the whole sporting community wondered what her next move would be. Would she retire? If she retired immediately after being found to have violated the ethics of competition, then that would arguably be her legacy, what people remembered, and not her best results.
In her own words, on her terms, she wrote a candid book about where it all started for her. She took the reader on a journey from the very beginning of her love for hitting balls to the moment she received the information about failing the drug test.
The story begins in Sochi, Russia, with a little girl who has a dream. She had an old-school father who was traditional in his thinking. He believed that for anyone to be good or the best at something they were passionate about, they had to be tough. That could be the reason that she adopted a never-die attitude, or even a ‘go hard at every ball’ kind of attitude, an aggressive style of play. She had to later learn how to incorporate a bit of variety into her game as she faced different opponents. Through vivid storytelling, Sharapova captures the essence of her tenacity and she eloquently describes the sacrifices her family made for her dream to become a reality. She narrates her emotions during the heights of her career, the lows of her injuries, and the pressure to remain at your best. Moreover, she further showcased her versatility by sharing her personal and professional development as a businesswoman and entrepreneur. The book is engaging because Sharapova writes simply in her attempt to draw in readers who are new to her story, and she expresses her gratitude to her longtime fans. Her writing is vulnerable. She admits that she never truly understood what it really means to be a role model, and that she didn’t really want to be any young girl’s role model. In the end, love her or not, her commitment to personal integrity is inspiring.
