Featured Columnist IVOctober 24, 2024
Stephane Cardinale/Corbis by way of Getty Pictures
Maria Sharapova together with Bob and Mike Bryan comprise the latest class of inductees within the Worldwide Tennis Corridor of Fame.
Honorary president Kim Clijsters known as the three to tell them of the respect:
Worldwide Tennis Corridor of Fame @TennisHalloFame
The Final Honor in Tennis is looking ☎️
A really particular welcome to the Class of 2025 ✨@Clijsterskim | @MariaSharapova | @Bryanbrothers pic.twitter.com/hW2OyvYwcZ
“I’m honored to welcome Maria Sharapova and Bob and Mike Bryan because the Worldwide Tennis Corridor of Fame’s Class of 2025,” Clijsters said. “Past every of their historic accomplishments on the court docket, the Class of 2025 have had such a profound impression on the sport of tennis and have impressed a number of generations of followers internationally. We sit up for celebrating them in Newport subsequent yr.”
Sharapova is a five-time main champion who achieved the profession Grand Slam when she gained the 2012 French Open.
The Russian made her breakthrough at Wimbledon in 2004. At simply 17, she dethroned two-time defending Serena Williams in straight units within the ultimate. She went on to beat Williams once more within the ultimate of the WTA Tour Championships that very same yr.
Whereas Sharapova did not have the type of profession her 2004 success seemingly portended, she went on to win 36 WTA occasions and was a silver medalist in girls’s singles on the 2012 Summer time Olympics.
Bob and Mike Bryan fashioned the best doubles pairing in males’s tennis historical past. Collectively they gained 16 Grand Slams and an Olympic gold medal in 2012, making them the one group to realize the feat.
“It was nothing we ever even placed on our objective checklist,” Bob advised ESPN’s D’Arcy Maine of stepping into the Corridor of Fame. “It is nearly too unattainable for a younger child to consider that, and we all the time simply cherished what we did. I believe that is what drove us thus far, and it allowed us to play tennis for therefore lengthy. It was by no means actually work or sacrifice for us.”
The Bryans had been ranked No. 1 on this planet for 438 whole weeks, which included a stretch of 139 consecutive weeks from 2013 to 2015.
Mike earned bragging rights over his youthful brother when he teamed with Jack Sock to win Wimbledon and the U.S. Open in 2018.
Sharapova and the Bryans will take their place amongst tennis’ immortals subsequent August.
