WTA: During the ban on doping: Maria Sharapova studied at elite university

Maria Sharapova was excluded from the WTA Tour and professional tennis for 15 months in 2016 due to a doping offence. The Russian seems to have made good use of the time.

It is a dark chapter that Maria Sharapova had to write in her career book in 2016. The heart drug Meldonium became the ex-number one’s doom and Sharapova was banned from the tour for 15 months.

The image loss was accordingly large, her opponents on the tour turned against the Russian and demanded an expulsion for life. Her profile life, peppered with long flights, training sessions and tournaments, was put on ice for now. But the five-time Grand Slam winner, who lives in the USA, knew how to make good use of her newly won leisure time.

Sharapova attended Harvard University courses in the Harvard Business School sector in Greater Boston, Massachusetts. Harvard is one of the best universities in the world and falls into the category of Ivy League universities. The Ivy League is a sports league that also provides the best eight universities in the USA.

Speaking to CNBC, Sharapova said, “I have taken courses in global management and business administration. It felt like a profession because you get up early, learn a lot and attend all the courses.” The type of subjects was chosen carefully. With her newly acquired knowledge, Sharapova acquired more know-how for her own sweets brand “Sugarpova”.

Of course, tennis didn’t take a back seat for the part-time student. “Of course, I’ve been working on staying in shape on the side. As soon as Friday was over and the weekend was over, my fellow students said, ‘Let’s go party and have some fun’. Unfortunately, I couldn’t go along with that and rather said that I would go to sleep,” Sharapova continued.

As ex-number one in women’s tennis, Sharapova knows what it’s like to be the best at something. During her time at university, the 31-year-old had to accept a new role: “I was surrounded by people who were older, smarter, wiser and more experienced in management”. These are the strongest memories of her time at Harvard, Sharapova said.