"I was very intimidated by this role," Sharapova's confessions about her new life as a businesswoman

A champion on the court, Maria Sharapova has also found success in the business world. An investor in various fashion-related companies, the Russian recently joined the board of directors of Moncler, the Italian luxury house.

In an interview with "The David Rubenstein Show: Peer to Peer Conversations," held as part of the Bloomberg Power Players conference in New York, the former world number one revealed that her adjustment was not easy when she first started at the European company.

"I was very intimidated by this role, but especially by the fact that I was asked in the first place. It's something very official. It's like a United Nations meeting: you sit around a big table, there's a microphone, and translation, because it's an Italian publicly traded company. So there's an intimidation factor.

I accepted this role selfishly because I felt I could learn from many of the people sitting in that room. And I feel like that mirrors my career. Even though I was passionate and deeply involved in one thing, I remained very open-minded and curious about others. I let other people guide me because I never had a formal education."

For reference, Sharapova also invested in Supergoop, a sunscreen brand she had been using for years. A profitable choice since nine years later, the company sold 75% of its shares for the modest sum of 750 million dollars.