Glam Slam: How Women's Tennis Is Making the Richest Sportswomen in History Even Richer

Simon Bruty / Sports Illustrated

Maria Sharapova wins the French Open final on June 9, 2012, taking her first Grand Slam title in four years and boosting her marketability.

Correction Appended: June 25, 2012.

When Maria Sharapova sank to her knees on the red clay of the Stade Roland-Garros in Paris on June 9 after winning the French Open singles final, her emotional celebration marked the completion of a long comeback. In 2008 reconstructive shoulder surgery sidelined the Russian prodigy, who had won three Grand Slam titles by the age of 20, for 10 months. She watched her ranking plummet all the way to No. 126 and listened as critics wrote her off as a flash in the pan who burned brightly and then burned out. "When...

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