"I wasn't just doing this for myself to win": Sharapova believes she was an entertainer on court looking back at her career

Maria Sharapova was a true superstar both on the court and off the court and a lot of that came from her understanding that ultimately she's an entertainer first.

In the grand scheme of things, sports fall under the entertainment umbrella. People watch it to be entertained and that's something Sharapova understood as her career went along. Playing sports and competing was for her own good but in the end, the relationship between fans and athletes are that of an entertaining variant.

" I feel like when you're an athlete you form a connection with people and fans. I realized when I was a little older that ultimately I was an entertainer. I wasn't just doing this for myself to win but when I when on to the court and I was having a really bad day, there could be somebody in the audience that was having a bad day themselves."

Both the athlete and the crowd have something from the interactions according to Sharapova:

"If I could turn that match around and show them on a bad day I was able to win or I was able to improve in front of their eyes, imagine how they'll go to sleep and think 'I had a tough day but this athlete in front of thousands of people was able to turn it around and inspired me to do that tomorrow."

Besides that, there is obviously an impact that you can make and being an inspiration to other people is a very beautiful feeling according to Sharapova:

"That impact you try to forget because there's a lot of pressure with it but ultimately it's such a beautiful feeling to have that you can have inspiration on other people."

She inspired plenty of people both with her on court performances and her off court dealing with a succesfull business career.