Maria Sharapova Biography

BIRTH: April 19, 1987, Nyagan, Russia

Maria Sharapova Biography : Tennis player Biography & Career

Maria Sharapova is a world famous professional tennis player from Russia. She was the first Russian woman to win the Wimbledon and has held the world number one ranking many times.

Maria Yuryevna Sharapova was born on April 19, 1987 in Nyagan, Russia to Yuri and Yelena Sharapova. In 1989, at the age of two, Sharapova’s interest in tennis bloomed when her parents handed her an old racket and started teaching her how to hit the ball.

In 1994, young Sharapova moved to the U.S. with her father and attempted to join the prestigious Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy. However, she was denied as the enrollment was based on invitation, and the seven year old Sharapova was too young anyway. They decided to remain in Florida and a coach was hired for Sharapova. At the age of nine, Sharapova went back to the Bollettieri Academy and did so well on her try-out that she received a full scholarship. The Academy was a part of a talent agency, the International Management Group.

Maria won the Eddie Herr International Junior Tennis Championship at the age of thirteen and was awarded the Rising Star award. In 2001, at the age of fourteen, she turned professional. In 2002 she competed at the Junior Wimbledon and Australian Open tournaments and reached the finals. Because of her young age, she was only allowed to play selected matches and mostly participated in the junior competitions.

In 2003, Sharapova won the WTA title at the Japan Open Tennis Championship and received the WTA ‘Newcomer of the Year’ award. She played for the first time in the Grand Slam, competing in every event. By the end of the year, Sharapova was in the Top 50 list.

In 2004, at the age of seventeen, Sharapova defeated defending champion Serena Williams in the Wimbledon finals to win her first Grand Slam. She became Russia’s second female Wimbledon champion to have won the singles title. She entered the Top 10 ranking for the first time in her career. In 2006 she won her second Grand Slam in the U.S. Open, and was dubbed the “Maria Mania”.

In 2005, Sharapova competed in the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, reaching the semi-finals in all three events. She became the first Russian woman to hold the world No. 1 ranking the same year. In 2008, she claimed her third Grand Slam title at the Australian Open.

Unfortunately, Sharapova couldn’t maintain her No. 1 position due to her injury diagnosed later that year – a torn rotator cuff. She underwent corrective surgery and couldn’t play in the later part of the year. After the surgery, she kept away from the sport to focus solely on her recovery.

Sharapova returned to the court in mid-2009, but until 2011 there were no major wins for the player. She did win several WTA titles but lost out on the Grand Slam and Wimbledon. Sharapova made her comeback in 2012 and won her first French Open title. She participated in the 2012 London Olympics and won the silver medal. In 2013, her shoulder injury resurfaced and significantly affected her performance. She was forced to miss the last six months of the season.

In 2014, Sharapova won her second French Open and fifth overall Grand Slam title. In 2015, she reached the Australian Opens final and the semi-finals of the U.S. Open, and was ranked fourth at the end of the year.

In March 2016, Sharapova revealed that she had failed the drug test for the Australian Open. The medicine she’d been taking for her health issues contained an ingredient which was prohibited from January 2016 onwards. Despite the explanation, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) suspended Sharapova for two years. After an appeal from Sharapova, her sentence was reduced to fifteen months. Sharapova returned to the game in April 2017.

Apart from tennis, Sharapova has dedicated her time to charitable projects, and worked with UNDP from 2007. She founded the Maria Sharapova Foundation to help children around the world achieve their dreams. She began her lifestyle product range called Sugarpova in 2012. A percentage of the sales from her business goes to her foundation which helps the underprivileged. In 2017, Sharapova released her autobiography titled Unstoppable: My Life So Far.