Where does Maria go now?
There's already some posts. May I offer, can I humbly say, a more profound assessment? Sharapova is in a VERY TOUGH situation.
First of all: she's obviously not 100% focused on her tennis due to her HUGE endorsement deals. Only an athlete like Tiger could remain so focused on his sport DESPITE such deals.
Secondly, her father's holding her back in terms of her growing as a person and a competitor.
Thirdly, in order for her to take the NEXT STEP she has to take a MAJOR RISK. She can't hit the ball better than she does now--I think that's why she's let go of the groundstroke guru Lansdorp. She could definitely serve better, and perhaps an injury is preventing her from reaching her serving potential. I'm unsure because she's had a lot of time off and surely has access to the best doctors, therapists, and trainers. So the problem is MENTAL. For any TOP ATHLETE to acknolwedge that is extremely difficult. So that's one major risk. But there's another. For her to make further in-roads, she needs to work so much harder on her MOVEMENT. Her height is not the issue--look at Venus. And please don't tell me Venus's movement is god-given. Maria can work on it and get better. But at the expense of working on her beloved groundstrokes and her haunting service motion.
You see, very tough.