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Maria Sharapova

Country:	Russia
Residence:	Bradenton, Florida, USA
Height:	188 cm (6 ft 2 in)
Weight:	59 kg (131 lb)
Plays:	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Turned pro:	2001
Highest singles ranking:	1 (2005/08/22)
Highest doubles ranking:	41 (2004/06/14)
Singles titles:	11
Doubles Titles:	3
Career Prize Money:	$5,026,526
Grand Slam Record Titles: 1
Australian Open	SF (2005, 2006)
French Open	QF (2004-05)
Wimbledon	W (2004)
U.S. Open	SF (2005)

Maria Yuryevna Sharapova (shah-RAH-puh-vuh; Template:Lang-ru; born April 19, 1987) is a former World No. 1 Russian professional tennis player and model. Her parents are originally from Gomel, Belarus, but moved to Russia in 1986 in the aftermath of the Chernobyl nuclear accident. Sharapova was born in Nyagan, Russia, the following year. She now lives in the USA but retains Russian citizenship.

Education

Sharapova studies via correspondence on the internet with the Keystone High School home schooling program and has a liking for sociology. As of 2004, she is in her second year of high school at 17 years of age. (source: Inside Tennis magazine, Sept. issue)

Awards

2003

• WTA Newcomer of the Year

2004

• WTA Player of the Year
• WTA Most Improved Player of the Year
• WTA Player Service

2005

• ESPY Best Female Tennis Player
• Named Russia's tennis federation as the country's best female player for the year
• Awarded the honorary Master of Sports of Russia title

Trivia

• Says what she enjoys most about being a professional tennis player is the travelling/getting to meet new people and see new cultures.

• Is good friends with fellow Russian tennis player Maria Kirilenko, despite not getting along with many of the other female Russian tennis players.

• Is affectionately called "Masha".

• Is currently single. (Stated by herself on Total Request Live)

• Is ambidextrous, and was undecided about which hand to use dominantly up until her professional tennis career began.

Quotes

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• "Tennis gets me worked up. It's a drive! I forget about everything while playing and I don't care a damn about what is going on out of court".
• "I’ve been playing against older and stronger competition my whole life. It has made me a better tennis player and able to play against this kind of level despite their strength and experience".
• "I don’t follow other players or the tournaments they play. I have my own schedule and do my own thing".
• "I'm not the next anyone, I'm the first Maria Sharapova."
• "So this is just tennis. You wake up, you either step on your right foot or your left, and, you know, hopefully you step on your right."
• "In a few years, hopefully, the stories won't be about my grunting or my looks, but about me being a great tennis player. With Monica Seles, everyone started talking about her being a big grunter, but who cares now that she grunts? When she walks on court, everyone thinks she's a champion."
• "People always ask about young people like me being forced into things. I play tennis because I love it. I think Russians might be tougher than other people. When I arrived in America I was young, but I already knew what I wanted. I think that when you start from nothing, when you come from nothing, it makes you hungry. I am proud of where I came from and I know what I want. I want to win."
• "Well, I mean, why would you want to be No. 20 and then when you get to No. 20 it's like you don't want to be No. 1, you know? It's like shoot for the moon. If you miss, you'll still be among the stars, so..."
• "Well, you can't win every single day, that's just a fact. You know, it's impossible to win every single match, and it's one of those days where, you know, they lost. And, I mean, everyone's going to have a moment like that. There's only one winner in a tournament. So out of how many people in this draw, they're all going to be considered losers and only one's the winner. Unfortunately, that's just the sport we're in where, you know, you're either the winner, but the chance of that is slim, you know (laughing)."
• "I definitely feel Russian inside, even when I'm in America I feel Russian,"
• "It's good to finish the year with a win. But i didn't expect to win like that."

Grand Slam singles finals

Wins (1)

Titles (14)

Singles (11)

Singles Finalist (4)

• 2004: Zurich (lost to Alicia Molik)
• 2005: Miami (lost to Kim Clijsters)
• 2006: Dubai (lost to Justine Henin-Hardenne)
• 2006: Miami (lost to Svetlana Kuznetsova)

Performance Timeline

Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-8 (quarter finals up to finalist).
If ITF women's circuit (Hardcourt: 22-4; Clay: 9-1) participation is included, overall win-loss record stands at 198-51.

References

• "Maria puts world domination on hold". (Nov. 11, 2005). New Straits Times, p. 42.

External links

• Maria Sharapova at the Women's Tennis Association
• Maria Sharapova at IMDb
• The officail maria Sharapova website
• Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue: Maria Sharapova

She is FIT

• 1987 births
• Ambidextrous people
• Living people
• Russian athletes
• Russian women
• Sports Illustrated swimsuit models
• Russian models
• Russian tennis players
• Wimbledon champions