Life looks a lot different for Wimbledon champion after quitting tennis
After retiring through injury, Sofya Zhuk has made a dramatic career change.
Alex Brotherton
For any tennis player, winning silverware at Wimbledon is a dream.
It's a moment that many see as a pinnacle of a career, but also hope will act as a springboard for greater things to come.
Those things usually happen on the tennis court, but that's not the case for Sofya Zhuk.
A 15-year-old Zhuk won the Wimbledon junior girls' title in 2015 after not losing a single set in the entire tournament.
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Since then her career has taken an unexpected change in direction - she's turned to OnlyFans.
Zhuk emerged from Justine Henin's tennis academy in Belgium, but struggled with injuries throughout her short career.
She carried on playing for a few years following her victory on Wimbledon's court one, but retired in 2020 at just 20 years old due to persistent back injuries.
Her final professional match came in a first-round qualifying defeat at Wimbledon in 2019.
The Russian, now 23 years old, has announced plans to open a channel on the adult platform, which allows people to provide photos and videos of themselves for a monthly subscription fee.
"Guys, the moment you've all been waiting for is finally here! There will be a lot of interesting material," the former tennis star posted on social media.
Zhuk has made it clear that she will not be posting fully clothless content, and will instead stick to bathing suits and cocktail dresses.
It's not clear how much she will charge for her content, or when she will start uploading it.
The 23-year-old now resides in Miami, where she works by renting out expensive cars and yachts.
She also works as a model, a vocation she's decided to take into her own hands through OnlyFans.
Speaking about her retirement, Zhuk told German sports outlet Bild: "My body needed rest. I was in so much trouble that even the doctors wouldn't treat me.
"I don't normally digest protein, so the discs in my vertebrae behave like those of a 60-year-old.
"I've always played in terrible pain, I loved tennis but I had to think about my health."
Zhuk's new career is a far cry from the one she had the chance to pursue following that 2015 win, although it sounds like she made the right decision.
The opponent she beat in that Wimbledon girls' final in 2015 was fellow Russian Anna Blinkova, who has gone on to enjoy a successful career and is currently ranked 66th in the world rankings.