New York (AFP) – Former world number one Maria Sharapova and the US doubles team of Bob and Mike Bryan were announced on Thursday as 2025 inductees to the International Tennis Hall of Fame. Sharapova, a five-time Grand Slam champion, is among only 10 women to have achieved a career singles Grand Slam. She was atop the world rankings five times in a WTA career that spanned from 2001-2020.
The Bryan brothers teamed to win 16 major doubles titles and became the ATP’s most successful duo, with a record 438 weeks atop the ATP doubles rankings. Induction ceremonies will be conducted at the Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island, on August 21-23 — just ahead of the start of next year’s US Open.
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Sharapova won Wimbledon in 2004, the US Open in 2006, the Australian Open in 2008, and the French Open in 2012 and 2014. “In retirement, you very seldomly get to reflect on your past, because you move on so quickly with life’s responsibilities,” Sharapova said. “This is an incredible recognition. Thank you so much. I’m so grateful to the Hall of Fame and grateful to the voters.”
Hall of Fame members, historians, journalists, and fans voted in the selection process. The Bryans, 2012 London Olympic men’s doubles champions, combined for 119 tour-level titles and 1,109 match wins and helped the US team win the 2007 Davis Cup. “It has been a great ride, the career, doing it together,” Bob Bryan said.
© 2024 AFP
