Sharapova wakes up early, drinks lot of water

Five-time Grand Slam champion Maria Sharapova starts every day at 6:30am "I like to wake up early. I like to go to bed early," the former world No. 1 ranked player said. "I like to get about eight to nine hours of sleep."

She drinks a liter of water. She then takes conference calls and answers emails.

"I have a couple of businesses that I'm a part of, so a lot of the first hour to hour and a half, I spend on a conference call because that's normally afternoon time in Europe," says Sharapova, who started candy business “Sugarpova” in 2012 and recently launched a chocolate line.

"I'll answer a few emails that are coming in from Europe. I have a candy brand, so we have to make a lot of decisions on that on a daily basis."

The combination of her earnings from off-court business endeavours, endorsements and prize money cemented Sharapova as the world's highest-paid female athlete for 11 straight years.

She then gets ready for practice.

Depending on her mood, she might listen to health-and-fitness-related content or to entrepreneurial stories. Her favourites include "The School of Greatness" with Lewis Howes and "10% Happier" with Dan Harris.

"I eat 30 minutes before I get to practice," says Sharapova. "I usually make myself a smoothie or a green juice, with spinach, kale, chia seeds, coconut water and all the other greens: cucumber, kiwi. And I always have a piece of rye bread. … I either put goat cheese on it or a piece of protein or avocado and some berries."

She heads to practice at 9:00am When she hits the court, it is all tennis. "My phone goes in my bag for the next few hours and I train," Sharapova said, according to media reports.