Maria Sharapova

Maria Sharapova

                              Questions & Answers

 1. What problems did Maria face as a child while she was being trained for tennis in the U.S.? What sustained her?

Or
How did adversity stand Maria in good stead in the long run?

Answer: Marie’s childhood was full of struggle and loneliness. She had to leave for the U.S. at the young age of nine years. Her mother could not accompany her to the U.S. due to some visa restrictions. She missed her mother terribly during the two years of their heart-wrenching separation. Though her father had accompanied her to the U.S., he too could not frequently visit her as he had to spend a lot of time to earn money to be paid for Maria’s tennis training. Apart from it, the other co-trainees used to bully, humiliate and insult her. They were inconsiderate to Maria who was much younger to them. To bully her, they would return to the room late at night, wake her up and make her tidy up the room. All these problems made her life during her training in U.S. miserable and desolate.

However, she was able to sail through these adverse times by never letting herself go into depression or think to quit. Instead, she strengthened her will-power and kept her passion for tennis alive. Eventually, her determined and consistent efforts paid when she became the number one tennis player in the world. She moulded adversity in her favour with her strength, toughness, and tolerance.

2. The lives of Santosh Yadav and Maria Sharapova have much in common to prove that determined and consistent hard work paves the way to success. Identify the points of comparison and contrast in the lives of these two great players.

Answer: Santosh Yadav, the legendary mountaineer from India, and Maria Sharapova, Russia’s tennis sensation trained in the U.S., are living examples of determined and consistent hard work. Both these young women started their journey to the top from humble backgrounds. Santosh belonged to a small village in the remote district of Rewari in Haryana while Maria came from the cold Siberia that did not have adequate training facilities for a tennis enthusiast.

Although both were supported by their respective parents, Santosh had to break rules at times to make her conservative family agree to her decisions. However, both the young girls had to sacrifice the loving and protective environment of their homes in order to train for their passion. Both women had an unwavering determination, physical and mental strength, and undivided focus on their goals. They both rose to the number one position in their respective areas within a short span of four years. While Sharapova moved from the frozen Siberia to the plains of Florida, Yadav moved from the plains of Rewari to the frozen Mount Everest. But both of them are devout patriots and share the dream to reach the top.

4. Imagine you are Santosh Yadav or Maria Sharapova. You have been invited to speak at an All India Girls’ Athletic Meet, as chief guest. Prepare a short speech to motivate young girls to think and dream big and make an effort to fulfil their dreams, not allowing difficulties or defeat to discourage them.

Answer: My dear shining stars of the future.
Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity to be here today. It gives me immense joy to see your smiling faces and sparkling eyes with a tinkle of dreams of a bright future. I wish to share some important lessons that I learnt from experience about what is called the ‘mantra’ of success.
My dear girls, the first and foremost requirement is to think and dream big. Unless you have a dream, you cannot achieve much in life. So assess your abilities and aptitudes. Ask what makes you happy and then set a goal for yourself. Your next step should be to make organised, consistent and sincere efforts to fulfil your dreams. Remember, all good things come at a price. So, do not allow difficulties or defeat to discourage you. Don’t forget, “When the time gets tough, the tough get going”. You have the fire in you, you only need to kindle it and keep it glowing.
I am sure that each one of you will excel in life and will keep going with the ‘never say die’ attitude. I wish you all the best and hope to see you as sparkling stars one day.
Keep Smiling! Keep Shining!
Thank You.