Tonight on the return of Shark Tank, a very familiar face from the world of sports will join the sharks to watch as promising entrepreneurs try to sell their products to the world.
Maria Sharapova, who retired from the world of professional tennis this week, will join shark Kevin O’Leary in a guest appearance on Shark Tank.
Who is Maria Sharapova
Maria Sharapova was one of the most successful, yet controversial tennis players in the world.
However, right before her appearance on Shark Tank, Sharapova announced to the world that she was retiring from tennis at the age of 32.
While 32 seems very young for retirement, the fact is that Sharapova started her professional tennis career at the age of 14.
Over her career, Sharapova ranked number one in the world five different times for 21 total weeks. She is one of only six women in the professional era to win each major tennis title at least once.
She won Wimbledon in 2004, the US Open in 2006, the Australian Open in 2008 and the French Open in 2012 and 2014.
She won her first Grand Slam title at the age of 17 by beating Serena Williams.
Sharapova also won a silver medal in the 2012 Summer Olympics.
However, she is also controversial, as she was suspended from professional play in 2016. The ITF suspended her for testing positive to the banned substance meldonium.
The two-year suspension was dropped to 15 months when the Court of Arbitration for Sport said that it was “no significant fault” by Sharipova.
However, it still tarnished her spot in tennis history in many people’s eyes.
Maria Sharapova on Shark Tank
So, what does Maria Sharapova have to do with Shark Tank?
Sharapova started her own candy brand in 2013 called Sugarpova. She then used the money she made to invest in other properties.
In 2016, Sugarpova partnered with Baron Chocolatier in Poland to create Sugarpova Premium Chocolates.
Sharapova also launched her own clothing line called the Nike Maria Sharapova Collection in 2010 with Nike and Cole Haan. She came up with the designs and received royalties from all sales from her collection.
Maria Sharapova also had numerous endorsement deals that surpassed the total lifetime earnings that she made from her tennis career.
The big news is that Maria Sharapova actually made an offer to one of the contestants on Shark Tank but there is no word on which shark she paired up with.
Here is the Maria Sharapova bio that will air tonight.
Shark Tank airs Fridays at 8/7c on ABC.