Maria Sharapova And Bryan Brothers Elected For Tennis Hall Of Fame

Maria Sharapova entered the 2025 Hall of Fame with the Bryan brothers (Instagram/@mariaslapapova).

JAKARTA - Five times the world's Grand Slam champion and former world number 1 tennis player, Maria Sharapova, along with Bob and Mike Bryan, the most successful tennis men's doubles in history, were named members of the International Tennis Hall of Fame 2025 on Thursday, October 24, 2024, local time.

They will be sworn in on 23 August 205 at the Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island, after three-day celebrations and various related activities.

In a statement, Kim CLijsters, President Hall, and members of the 2017 Hall of Fame class, praised the three for their careers and achievements.

"Outside of any of their historic achievements on the pitch, Class 2025 has had a huge impact on tennis games and has inspired generations of fans around the world."

"We hope to celebrate them in Newport next year," said CLijsters as reported by ESPN.

Sharapova, who is now 37 years old, is one of 10 women who have won the Grand Slam throughout her career.

He was one of the most known players on tours during most of his career.

Sharapova is the highest paid female athlete in the world according to Forbes for 11 consecutive years because of her income on the pitch and various sponsorship deals.

The two-time Roland Garros champion wrote on his personal X account that he was very grateful to be a Hall of Fame member and thanked his fans.

Sharapova's reputation and selling power declined after the 2016 announcement of a failed banned substance test.

He was suspended from the sport for 15 months. He returned to compete in April 2017 and won his last title at the Tianjin Open in October. He then retired in February 2020.

In total, he won 36 titles and claimed an Olympic silver medal on behalf of Russia in 2012 (London).

Sharapova holds the top ranking in the world on five separate occasions for 21 weeks. He was ranked top five for 408 weeks.

Meanwhile, twin brothers and California natives Bob and Mike Bryan, now 46, won 16 major titles, four ATP Finals, and 119 overall titles together.

The Bryan brothers hold the world's number 1 doubles ranking for 438 weeks, including 139 consecutive weeks from February 2013 to October 2015.

They were at the top of the year 10 times, winning the Olympic doubles gold medal in 2012 in London and bronze in 2008 in Beijing.

The Bryan brothers also helped lead the United States team to a Davis Cup win in 2007.

Mike, two minutes older than Bob, won two additional Grand Slam doubles titles and a year-end ATP Final with Jack Sock in 2018 when Bob was sidelined of injury.

The achievement put Mike at the top of the list of the most titles of all time. The two brothers got some mixed double trophies.

Bob has seven trophies and Mike has four titles in their careers for 22 years. They retired together in August 2020.

In an interview this week with ESPN, Bob said they were dumbfounded when someone told them they were going to be in the Hall of Fame.

"It's not our goal at all. It's almost impossible for young people to think about that."

"We've always loved what we did. I think that's what pushed us into this point."

"It allowed us to play tennis for so long. It was never really work or sacrifice for us."

"This is a very special feeling because all our idols and so many legends of this game are there."

"To put it in the house that houses the names is a great thing for us," said Bob.

Mike told ESPN that people started to mention to them the possibility that the two would eventually become the Hall of Fame after they broke Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde's record for the most titles together (61).

However, that's not something they've focused on during their careers.

"We consider The Woodies record like climbing Mount Everest. It's a milestone."

"However, we still ignore it when people say, 'Oh one day you may be in Newport,'" Mike said.

"Meski begitu, kami meletakkan semua rencana dan benar-benar memiliki kesempatan untuk melihat semua hasil kerja kami."

"We thought it would come true when the vote was held in five years. Then, it crossed our minds," Mike said again.

Both were very happy to learn that they had been nominated in August 2024.

Earlier this month, when Mike and his family lived with Bob and his family in South Florida after fleeing their homes in the Tampa Bay area as Hurricane Milton hit, the two brothers received a text message asking if they could attend Zoom calls on the same day.

Sitting side by side at Bob's office, they knew it was good news when they saw the smiling face of Clijsters on the screen.

Clijsters told that they were officially part of the Hall of Fame 2025 class, along with Sharapova, someone they have known since he first took part in the tour.

"He's done great things for this sport. Great things off the pitch, so being in this class with him is a special thing," said Mike.

Bob said they wanted to spend time with Sharapova during the preparatory events and held formal events to thank everyone who has helped them so far.

"We retired during the pandemic. We never really had the opportunity to thank everyone who played a major role in our careers," said Bob.

"We just sailed into the sunset and never ended the whole journey. So, we're going to try to gather as many people as possible and tell them how much we appreciate and that this is their moment too," said Bob.