The psychology of rivalry and resilience with Maria Sharapova

**Maria Sharapova** (0:00)
Resilience was almost like a silent lesson that I got to experience every single day, because in sport, you make a lot of errors, and sometimes those errors are in your control, and sometimes they're not. And so even within that, you start to learn, focus on things that you can control.

**Adam Grant** (0:21)
Hey, everyone, it's Adam Grant. Welcome back to ReThinking, my podcast with Ted on the science of what makes us take. I'm an organizational psychologist, and I'm taking you inside the minds of fascinating people to explore new thoughts and new ways of thinking.
Maria Sharapova is a tennis luminary, one of only 10 women in history to complete a career grand slam in singles. She moved to the US from Russia with her dad, who was her coach when she was six years old, with borrowed money to attend an elite training camp in Florida. Maria retired in 2020 and was inducted into the Tennis Hall of Fame in 2025
Since retiring, she also became a mother, an investor and a podcast host. On her show Pretty Tough, she interviews women like Misty Copeland, Zoe Saldana and Chelsea Handler. But today, I get to sit down with Maria to talk about resilience, motivation and whether she's ready for a little friendly competition starting now.

**Maria Sharapova** (1:16)
The heavy-hitting questions are coming so soon.

**Adam Grant** (1:23)
I have to tell you, we've known each other for a decade, and we've never played a racket sport together.
No tennis, no Padel, no pickleball, not even ping-pong. Why?

**Maria Sharapova** (1:33)
I like how you say Padel. It's very European of you, Adam.

**Adam Grant** (1:36)
I think it's technically Mexican, right? Padel is the origin.

**Maria Sharapova** (1:41)
Well, that's too deep. It's too early to get in there.

**Adam Grant** (1:44)
Are you dodging the question already?

**Maria Sharapova** (1:45)
Pretty much so. But no, the reason we haven't is, well, we've met at conferences, we've met at fantastic events, but it's always, it's usually those types of events that I join where I know ahead of time there isn't a court.

**Adam Grant** (1:59)
Why are you avoiding it?

**Maria Sharapova** (2:01)
Oh, I did it for so long. It was part of my life every single day. And I think I've said this to you before, but when your body has known what it's felt like to be at a very high level, when it's toned, when it's fast paced, when the muscle twitch is at an excellent level, unlike right now, it's always hard to go back to something that isn't at that high level and do it at a very unfamiliar, slower pace.

**Adam Grant** (2:33)
What would it take to make you rethink that?

**Maria Sharapova** (2:37)
Well, I love tennis as a workout. I think it is one of the best workouts you can do. First of all, because you are off your screen and you cannot think about anything else. You cannot think about your work, about your family.
You can't have any distractions because if those little thoughts start creeping in, you are going to make errors. Your opponent is going to hit many winners and it's not going to feel good. So what I love about racket sports is that you are all in. And I love something that puts you in a position to give it everything mentally, physically, and I think that's why I chose the sport for such a long time.

**Adam Grant** (3:21)
Okay, so I need to appeal to your desire for a good workout and for a distraction from work and family. Is that what you're telling me?

**Maria Sharapova** (3:29)
Yes, yes.

**Adam Grant** (3:32)
Is tennis the racket sport you're most likely to say yes to?

**Maria Sharapova** (3:35)
Absolutely.

**Adam Grant** (3:36)
Oh, interesting. I would have thought it would be ping pong because you don't feel as much the, oh, but I'm not at the top of my game and I haven't been training and I'm not as great as I used to be.

**Maria Sharapova** (3:45)
I have no chance at any of the other racket sports. Not pickle, not padel, not, I mean, ping pong is off the table completely.

**Adam Grant** (3:54)
Why? Ironically.

**Maria Sharapova** (3:56)
I need more movement.

**Adam Grant** (3:57)
It's literally on the table.

**Maria Sharapova** (4:00)
Well, for me, it's off the table.
Because there's not enough movement, it's too quick. I like it to be a little more intellectual. My father used to say, you have to play a cat and mouse game, and that's what I loved about tennis, which is quite ironic because I was known to have such powerful strokes and I liked a quicker point. But my father's philosophy was that, you just need to be smarter during the point. It's not about hitting a winner.