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Maria Sharapova › Biography
Maria Sharapova Biography
Maria Sharapova was born on April 19, 1987 in Nyagan, a town in western Siberia.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) moved to the Black Sea town of Sochi, known then as a resort village and home of Russian tennis light, Yevgeny Kafelnikov. Her father (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. The Tennis legend 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.
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.
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.By 2003; She joined the WTA Tour and impressed everyone with her talent. 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 also the third-youngest women's champion in history. She is also a second Russian woman to win a grand slam. Now she ranked 1st as by 22-8-2005 WTA Tour Ranking. As she is supermodel for her fans, she does modeling; she also loves singing, jazz dancing and watching movies.
Due to her modeling she always compared to Anna Kournikova. | |