When Maria Sharapova announced the end of her engagement to ex-Lakers sharpshooter: "Our career schedules made it extremely difficult"
Maintaining a relationship is already challenging enough when one party is a professional athlete. One can imagine how difficult it was for former Los Angeles Lakers guard Sasha Vujacic and women’s tennis superstar Maria Sharapova to maintain their romance in the early 2010s.
It was therefore completely unsurprising when Sharapova announced in August 2012 that she and Vujacic had ended their engagement and relationship, citing difficulty in aligning their respective schedules.
The most popular female athlete of that era
When it came to female sports superstars in the 2000s and early 2010s, few came close to Sharapova. A comely 6’2″ tennis sensation from Nyagan, Russia, she gained worldwide recognition when she won the Wimbledon crown in 2004, defeating the two-time champion Serena Williams in 2004.
Maria never looked back after that monumental win and went on to add several Grand Slam titles, including the US Open in 2006, the Australian Open in 2008, and the French Open crowns in 2012 and 2014.
While being a top-ranked player on the pro tour meant she was at this locale or that, Sharapova found some time for love when she began dating Vujacic, who was then a reserve guard for the Purple & Gold. The relationship quickly blossomed, and a year later, Sasha reportedly popped the question to the Russian sports star, getting engaged on their one-year anniversary.
However, a couple of years later, Sharapova revealed to the media that she and Vujacic were no longer together.
“It was obviously a challenging decision, you know, from both of our ends,” she disclosed. “We have a tremendous amount of respect for each other. Still would love to call him a friend. We spent really great years together.”
Difficult balancing a pro sports career and a relationship
While Vujacic was undeniably not on the same level as Sharapova when it came to sports success, he still had his own demanding career to focus on. As a professional basketball player, “The Machine” had training and games that took him all around North America for most of the year.
Eventually, Sharapova said this took a toll on their relationship, and they eventually decided that it was best to part ways. Despite their separation, the two have remained on good terms, and Maria even expressed her hope that they would remain friends.
“It was a really nice period of time for both of us, but you know, our career schedules just made it extremely difficult to see each other with the traveling, and especially his career move to Turkey,” Maria said, referring to Sasha’s move to play for Anadolu Efes, a Turkish team based in Istanbul.
“He wasn’t able to travel much. He wasn’t home one time during the 10 months that he was in Turkey, so that made it extremely difficult,” Sharapova added.
Love and basketball can be tricky to balance, especially when one is playing at an elite level. Between the pressure of preparing for games, performing up to expectations and traveling constantly, it can be tough to make time for a romantic relationship. This, Maria and Sasha learned the hard way. Although they tried to make it work, their busy careers ultimately pulled them apart.
This story was originally published by Basketball Network on Dec 24, 2025, where it first appeared in the Off The Court section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
