Maria Sharapova
Maria Yuryevna Sharapova is a Russian professional tennis player born in Nyagan, Russian SFSR in April 19, 1987. Sharapova has won 23 WTA singles titles including three Grand Slam singles titles at the 2004 Wimbledon, 2006 US Open, and 2008 Australian Open. If she gets a title at the French Open, then she has achieved a Grand Slam, but that has not happened yet.
Early Life
Sharapova was born in Nyagan to parents Yury and Yelena. Her parents were ethnic Belarusians and moved from Gomel, Belarus after the Chernobyl nuclear accident in 1986. When Sharapova was two, her family moved to Sochi, Russia. Russia’s first ever ranked World No. 1 tennis player Yevgeny Kafelnikov’s father Aleksandr gave Sharapova her first Tennis racket when she was 4. Her father and her would then go and practice at the park regularly. Russian coach Yuri Yutkin gave Sharapova her first tennis lessons and was impressed with how she played and how she had incredible hand-eye coordination. allowing her to finally enroll at the age of 9.
Career
She began playing tennis as a young child, and at age nine was taken by her father to Florida, USA, where she enrolled at a tennis academy. She has yet to win the French Open which is the only major that she needs to earn a Grand Slam.
2003-2004
She turned professional at 14, claimed her first WTA victory at the 2003 AIG Japan Open, and also that year reached the fourth round at Wimbledon on her first attempt. Success came in 2004 when she won the singles title there, becoming Russia’s first woman Wimbledon champion. At the end of 2004 she added the WTA Championship title to her achievements.
Sharapova was among the title favorites at Wimbledon, where the eventual champion Mauresmo ended up beating her in the semifinals.
Tier I Acura Classic, Sharapova claimed her second title by beating Kim Clijsters for the first time.
She was ranked No. 4 at the start of 2006 and that year won the US Open, where she was the third seed and beated second seed Justine Henin in the semi-final.
Sharapova would’ve been the world’s No. 1 ranked player if she had won the WTA Tour Championship, because before that, she was in a 19-match winning streak but it was broken by Henin at the Tour Finals Championship. Although she lost and she didn’t get ranked No. 1, she still moved up to No. 2, which was her closest to the top.
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