Maria and Serena took the narrative to another level- Petkovic on tennis influence

Former German women’s tennis player Andrea Petkovic has lauded former world number one Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova for changing the perception surrounding tennis players. Both were regarded among the top players during their era, winning multiple Grand Slams.

Sharapova, who finished her career in February 2020 after winning five Grand Slams, always showed interest in pursuing a career in the fielding of modelling and showbiz. She appeared in multiple photoshoots during her playing days as well. Later, she became a successful businesswoman as well. Serena, who is regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of women’s tennis in the singles category, having won as many as 23 Grand Slam titles, started to show her interest in business and fashion towards the later stages of her career.

She now owns multiple companies and can be described as a successful entrepreneur. Former world number nine Petkovic, who finished her career in 2022, was recently quoted in a report in which she praised both Serena and Sharapova for changing the perception of women tennis players.

"When I started it was kind of frowned upon to have multiple interests and I really think Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams changed all that. I think they were the first ones,” she said. “I’ve always had my interests and my hobbies and my books, my writings and all these other things but I would almost not talk about it because I thought I have to be focused on what I do, playing tennis. And Maria and Serena kind of brought the narrative to another level where they were like, 'No, I do design furniture and I’m a nail specialist in Serena and I am a businesswoman in Maria. They changed the narrative of an athlete in general, not only tennis players. And it was okay to do other things. And I felt much more comfortable after that to talk about the things that I had and I always saw it as an add-on not a takeaway to my game. Something that can strengthen me mentally and not take away from me mentally.”