Usually, I do not find autobiographies particularly fascinating or something that I would want to write a review on. I find them predictable— hardships and overcoming challenges. After all, how can a 16 year old “review” the life of one of the best tennis players in the world? Therefore, in this review I will talk about an aspect of Maria’s personality.
During the entirety of the book, something that stayed with Maria through the good times and the bad, is her determination. The fire that blazes in the pit of her stomach to be the best player on the court, to fight harder than the last, to run a little bit faster everyday, to be The Champion has always burnt high and strong. It started from the moment she picked up her first oversized tennis racquet. But it also burnt with the most intensity when she started to feel down. She always judged herself by tbe number of times she got up after falling down. Her competitive spirit is unlike what I have ever seen or read about before, it is almost inhuman because I had trouble comprehending how one person can have so much zeal in them- to the point of being fanatic. I admire her strength and perseverance. I admire the manner and attitude she maintained when she picked herself up, no matter how bad the fall. It is so rare to see such high motivation and ambition in a person. I now associate all these words and qualities to Maria Sharapova.
Apart from training for the games, she talks about the sacrifices her father made because he saw a little fighter in her when she was four years old. She also talks about how Serena Williams played a significant role in her life. She grew up listening to people praise Serena and talk about her being the best in the world, and since Maria is competitive, she refused to sit and watch with the others when fate presented her with the opportunity to watch Serena play. Instead, she hid in a dingy viewing chamber and watched slightly enviously at her biggest competition. She knew at that moment that she will go after Serena and destroy her. Maria also addressed her recent drug scandal and explained her innocence while admitting that she should have been more careful. At the end of the book, she explains how dejected and worthless she felt because it was like she was working up to something her whole life and right as she was about to seize it, it was violently jerked far away from her. But, her trademark laser focus returns and she ends the book on the note of, again, her diabolically strong desire to “beat them all”.