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Date of
Birth: April 19, 1987
Birthplace: Nyagan, Russia (Siberian Region)
Residence: Bradenton, Florida, USA
Nationality: Russian
Height: 6'2
Weight: 130 lbs. (59 kg)
Plays: Right-handed
Clothing: Nike
Racquet: Prince
Endorsements: Speedminton, Motorola, Parlux Fragrances, Canon,
TAG Heuer, Honda Japan & Colgate-Palmolive
Favorite Movie: Pearl Harbor
Favorite Food: Russian
Favorite Book: Sherlock Holmes and Pippi Longstocking series
Loves fashion, singing, jazz dancing and watching movies.
Maria Sharapova was born on April 19, 1987 in Nyagan, a town
in western Siberia, where her parents, Yuri and Yelena, had
fled from Belarus a year earlier to avoid radiation from
Chernobyl. Still too close to the disaster site, her family
left their home as refugees again when she was two-years-old.
In 1989, the Sharapovs (Maria uses the feminine Sharapova)
settled for a while in the Black Sea town of Sochi, known then
as a resort village and home of Russian tennis light, Yevgeny
Kafelnikov. Yuri had been an engineer in Nyagan. But as the
family bounced from on home to the next, he did anything he
could just to keep them together.
When she was 4 years old, a chance encounter changed her life.
She discovered tennis after her fourth birthday, when a family
friend, Kafelnikov's father, gave her one of his son's old
Dunlop tennis racquets. The die was cast. Maria hardly ever
let that cut-down, cracked, destrung racquet out of her hand
from the moment she picked it up. Every day she hit balls
against the side of the house.
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.
Soon after, this same advice was repeated by the head coach of
the Russian Federation. Everyone agreed it was the best thing
to do in light of Maria'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.
IMG, the sports management company, agreed to sponsor Maria
and put up the $35,000 US per year it costs to stay at the
Bollettieri Academy. Not knowing any English either, she was
very shy and introverted.
While her father took odd jobs, Maria moved into the school
dorm when she was 9. Sharing a room with three older girls,
she quickly learned the language. Still, it was hard on her,
especially since her mother, Yelena, remained in Russia
because she couldn't get the proper visa.
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
has never been in a formal school in her life.
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, Sharapova did even better on the junior
circuit with 26 victories and, again, only three losses. She
once more won three 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.
By 2003, Sharapova had 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.
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 number 32.
In 2004, she stunned Wimbledon audiences when she beat
champion player Serena Williams, making Sharapova the first
Russian to win a Wimbledon singles title and the
third-youngest women's champion in history.
At present, she is putting an end to her high school education
through Keystone High, an online high school. She does photo
shoots once in a while but her priority is tennis. Besides,
she doesn't need the money, as she has very lucrative
endorsement deals with Nike, NEC and Prince. Sharapova
currently resides in Bradentn, Florida.
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