“99% had no idea,” Maria Sharapova uses Coco Gauff winning the US Open as an example calls out the ‘fake fans’ of the sport

Maria Sharapova gives her marketing insight for tennis

“99% had no idea,” Maria Sharapova uses Coco Gauff winning the US Open as an example calls out the ‘fake fans’ of the sport

Maria Sharapova (L) and Coco Gauff (R) (Credits Hello Magazine and Wall Street Journal)

Maria Sharapova recently attended a conference organized by Bloomberg. The Russian gave her insights on marketing and investing that tennis needs. She revealed that there were many “fans” at the US Open who had no idea about other tournaments at the Masters level.

She gave the example of 19-year-old tennis sensation Coco Gauff, who made history at the US Open this year. Sharapova said that even though the stadium was full of people supporting her first monumental win, they had no idea that she would be playing in Beijing for the China Open in the coming days.

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The 36-year-old former tennis player believed that even when the teenager reached the semi-finals of the China Open, 99% of the crowd would be unaware of the news.

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“She got to the semifinals and lost, but I’m sure 99 percent of the audience at the US Open had no idea where she was playing next. Right away, that’s off the bat; that’s a problem,” she said. The five-time Grand Slam-winning player blamed the marketing and engagement of the tennis community for this. She shared that for tennis to grow as a business, it needs to invest more in its marketing.

Sharapova’s advice comes from experience, as after retiring, the Russian focused her career on fashion, entrepreneurship, and investing.

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Maria Sharapova discusses pay disparity

Maria Sharapova recently discussed the pay disparity between men and women in the sport of tennis. As part of the Bloomberg Screentime conference with Jason Kelly, Sharapova discussed the gender pay gap that exists in tennis. The pay gap has been a longstanding discussion in the sport, with various prominent members giving their opinions.

Maria Sharapova
Maria Sharapova (Credits: Bloomberg.com)

As the Grand Slams offer equal prize money to men and women, the difference in the other Masters-level tournaments becomes glaringly obvious. Speaking on the issue, the former World No. 1 gave the example of the men’s tournament Shanghai Masters in China, which offers a prize money of $1.2 million, and at the same time, the women’s tournament Zhengzhou Open, which also took place in China, offered a prize money of $120,000.

She added that there is a stark difference between the two. While Grand Slams are praised for providing equal pay, most forget about the tournaments that take place for nine months with a huge gender pay gap.

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