Biography of Maria Sharapova
Maria Sharapova was born on April 19, 1987, in Nyagan, a town in the Siberian region of Russia. In 1989, the family moved to the Black Sea resort town of Sochi. When she was 4 years old, a chance encounter changed her life. She met with the father of tennis champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov, and the man gave her a racket. From that moment, she started hitting tennis balls, and the game soon became a passion for her.
Two years later, she was performing at a tennis clinic when another tennis champion changed her life: Martina Navratilova was in the building and she was flabbergasted by the talent of the 6-year-old. She went to her father, Yuri, and recommended that he take his daughter to the world-famous Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Florida.
Everyone agreed moving to Florida was the best thing to do in light of Maria Sharapova's enormous talent. When she was only 7, Yuri took his daughter to the U.S. without knowing a word of English and with less than $1,000 in his pocket.
Two years later, her mother was finally able to come to Florida and be reunited with her daughter and husband. From that moment, she took it upon herself to educate Maria, who had never been in a formal school in her life.
maria sharapova's wins hilton head title
Her official tennis career began in 2001, when she joined the junior circuit. During that year, she won 25 matches and only lost three. In the process, she came away with three titles: Sacramento, Hilton Head and Pilsen in the Czech Republic.
The following season, Maria Sharapova did even better on the junior circuit with 26 victories and, again, only three losses. She won three more titles: Vancouver, Peachtree and Gunma in Japan. The same year, she was allowed to play a limited number of matches on the professional tour.
She won one match and lost two, including one against Monica Seles in the second round at Indian Wells, her first professional tournament. After all the results were tabulated, she was ranked 186th on the WTA charts.
maria sharapova joins the wta tour
By 2003, Maria Sharapova paid her dues and was able to play in the big leagues. She joined the WTA Tour and impressed everyone with her talent. For that season, she came away with 34 wins and a negligible 11 losses. Maria Sharapova also won two professional titles: Quebec City and the Japan Open. She also won two doubles titles with Tamarine Tanasugarn: Luxembourg and the Japan Open. When the season was over, her ranking had improved to place her at No. 32.
In 2004, Maria Sharapova stunned Wimbledon audiences when she beat champion player Serena Williams, making Maria Sharapova the first Russian to win a Wimbledon singles title and the third youngest women's champion in history.Maria Sharapova spread the love in 2007, and was named a UNDP Goodwill Ambassador. She even donated $100,000 to Chernobyl recovery projects. Her good Samaritan ways must have rubbed off on her tennis skills because Maria Sharapova also came away with the winning title at the Acura Classic in San Diego.
Sharapova's representation of Russia in the Fed Cup has been controversial. At the end of 2004, compatriot Anastasia Myskina stated she would stop playing for Russia if Sharapova joined. Nevertheless, at the end of 2005, Sharapova stated she was now keen to make her Fed Cup debut and was set to play against Belgium in April 2006, but withdrew.
Sharapova later withdrew from ties against Spain in April 2007 and against the United States in July 2007 because of injuries. The latter withdrawal led to Russia's captain saying she would be "ineligible for selection" for the Fed Cup final in September. However, Sharapova attended the final, cheering from the sidelines and acting as a "hitting partner" in practices, resulting in some of her Russian teammates implying that she was attending only to enable her to play at the 2008 Beijing Olympics (rules state that players must have "shown commitment" to Fed Cup in order to play). Svetlana Kuznetsova said, "She said she wanted to be our practise partner but if you can't play how then can you practise?"
Sharapova finally made her Fed Cup debut in February 2008, in Russia's quarterfinal tie against Israel. Sharapova won both her singles rubbers, against Tzipora Obziler and Shahar Peer, helping Russia to a 4-1 victory.
Awards
2003 * Women's Tennis Association (WTA) Newcomer of the Year
2004 * WTA Player of the Year
* WTA Most Improved Player of the Year
2005 * ESPY Best Female Tennis Player
* Named the country's best female player for the year by Russia's tennis federation
* Master of Sports of Russia
* Prix de Citron Roland Garros
2006 * Named the country's best female player for the year by Russia's tennis federation
* Whirlpool 6th Sense Player of the Year
2007 * ESPY Best Female Tennis Player
* ESPY Best International Female Athlete
* ESPN Hottest Female Athlete
2008 * Named the January 2008 female Athlete of the Month by the United States Sports Academy for her performance at the Australian Open
* ESPY Best Female Tennis Player
Video games
Sharapova has been depicted in many tennis-related video games, along with such players as Daniela Hantuchová, Lindsay Davenport, Venus Williams, and Anna Kournikova. Some of the titles are Top Spin (Play Station 2 version), Top Spin 2, Smash Court Tennis 3 and Virtua Tennis 3. She has also just appeared in the roster of the newest edition of the tennis-related video games, Top Spin 3, which was released on June 20, 2008.
