Maria Yurievna Sharapova (b. 1987) - Russian tennis player, ex-first racket of the world, winner of 5 Grand Slam singles tournaments in 2004-2014.
One of the 10 tennis players in history with the so-called "career helmet" (won all Grand Slam tournaments, but in different years), one of the leaders in advertising earnings among athletes in the world. Honored Master of Sports of Russia.
There are many interesting facts in the biography of Sharapova, which we will tell about in this article.
So, before you is a short biography of Maria Sharapova.
Biography of Maria Sharapova
Maria Sharapova was born on April 19, 1987 in the small Siberian town of Nyagan. She grew up and was brought up in the family of a tennis coach, Yuri Viktorovich, and his wife Elena Petrovna.
Childhood and youth
Initially, the Sharapov family lived in the Belarusian Gomel. However, after the explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, they decided to leave for Siberia, due to the unfavorable environmental situation.
It is worth noting that the couple ended up in Nyagan about a year before the birth of Mary.
Soon the parents settled with their daughter in Sochi. When Maria was barely 4 years old, she started going to tennis.
From year to year, the girl made noticeable success in this sport. According to some sources, the first racket was presented to her by Evgeny Kafelnikov himself - the most titled tennis player in the history of Russia.
At the age of 6, Sharapova happened to be on the court with the world famous tennis player Martina Navratilova. The woman appreciated the game of little Masha, advising her father to send his daughter to the Nick Bollettieri tennis academy in the USA.
Sharapov Sr. listened to Navratilova's advice and in 1995 flew with Maria to America. It is curious that the athlete lives in this country to this day.
Tennis
Upon arrival in the United States of America, Maria Sharapova's father had to take any job in order to pay for his daughter's education.
When the girl was 9 years old, she signed a contract with the IMG company, which agreed to pay for the training of a young tennis player at the academy.
5 years later, Sharapova took part in the international women's tennis tournament under the auspices of the ITF. She managed to show a fairly high level of play, as a result of which the girl was able to continue performing in prestigious competitions.
In 2002, Maria reached the final of the Australian Open Junior Championships, and also played in the final of the Wimbledon tournament.
An interesting fact is that even in childhood, Sharapova developed her own style of play. Each time she hit the ball, she emitted an ultra-loud scream, which caused a lot of discomfort to her rivals.
As it turned out, some of the tennis player's exclamations reached 105 decibels, which is comparable to the roar of a jet plane.
According to some sources, many of Sharapova's opponents lost to her only because they could not cope with the regular “squeals” of the Russians.
It is curious that Sharapova knows about this, but is not going to change her behavior on the court.
In 2004, a significant event took place in the biography of Maria Sharapova. She managed to win at Wimbledon, beating American Serena Williams in the final. This victory brought her not only world fame, but also allowed her to join the elite of women's tennis.
In the period 2008-2009. the athlete did not participate in the competition due to a shoulder injury. She returned to court only in 2010, continuing to show a good game.
Interestingly, Sharapova is equally good at both right and left hand.
In 2012, Maria participated in 30 Olympic Games held in Great Britain. She reached the final, losing to Serena Williams 0-6 and 1-6.
Later, the Russian woman will repeatedly lose to Williams in the semifinals and finals of various competitions.
In addition to sports, Sharapova is fond of fashion. In the summer of 2013, her collection of luxury accessories under the Sugarpova brand was shown in New York.
The girl was often offered to connect her life with the modeling business, but sports for her always remained in the first place.
Condition
According to Forbes magazine, Maria Sharapova was in the TOP-100 of the most influential world celebrities. During the biography of 2010-2011. she was one of the highest paid athletes in the world, with an income of over $ 24 million.
In 2013, the tennis player was included in the Forbes list for the 9th time in a row. That year, her capital was estimated at $ 29 million.
Doping scandal
In 2016, Maria found herself embroiled in a doping scandal. At an official press conference, she openly stated that she had taken a prohibited substance - meldonium.
The girl has been taking this drug for the past 10 years. It is fair to say that until January 1, 2016, meldonium was not yet on the list of prohibited substances, and she simply did not read the letter notifying about the changes in the rules.
Following the recognition of Sharapova, statements by foreign athletes followed. The bulk of her colleagues criticized the Russian woman, expressing many unflattering comments about her.
The arbitration court suspended Maria from sports for 15 months, with the result that she returned to the court only in April 2017.
Personal life
In 2005, Sharapova for some time met with the leader of the pop-rock group "Maroon 5" Adam Levin.
5 years later, it became known about Maria's engagement to the Slovenian basketball player Sasha Vuyachich. However, after two years, the athletes decided to leave.
In 2013, the media reported on Sharapova's romance with the Bulgarian tennis player Grigor Dimitrov, who was 5 years younger than her. However, the relationship of young people only lasted a couple of years.
In 2015, there were many rumors that the Russian woman was in a relationship with the football player Cristiano Ronaldo. However, whether this was really so difficult to say.
In the fall of 2018, Maria publicly announced that she was meeting with British oligarch Alexander Gilkes.
Maria Sharapova today
Sharapova still plays tennis, participating in international competitions.
In 2019, the athlete competed at the Australian Open, reaching the fourth round. Australian Ashley Barty turned out to be stronger than her.
In addition to sports, Maria continues to develop the Shugarpova brand. In many countries of the world, you can see gummy candies, chocolate and marmalade from Sharapova on store shelves.
The tennis player has an Instagram account, where she regularly uploads photos and videos. As of 2020, more than 3.8 million people have subscribed to her page.
Sharapova Photos
