Short Biography |
Tennis star Maria Sharapova has a lot
going for her. At only 18 years of age she has become the world's
highest paid female athlete. Born in Nyagan, Russia, (in the Siberian
region) on April 19, 1987, she began playing tennis at a very young
age. By the time she was nine she had moved to Bradenton, Florida,
(where she currently resides) to train at Nick Bollettieri's Tennis
Academy.
Sharapova began climbing the ranks in the
World Tennis Association (WTA), earning her first tournament title
in Japan in 2003. Her crowning moment came in 2004, when she won
Wimbledon at a mere 17 year of age, solidifying a consistent spot
in the top five. Off the court she is known for her looks. She often
takes modeling jobs and works on her endorsements, the likes of
which include Motorola, Canon and Honda Japan. The attractive six-foot-tall
blond often draws comparisons to fellow Russian tennis-pro-turned-model
Anna Kournikova, but her skills on the court are what set the two
apart.
In just the past two years she has become
the poster child for women's tennis. Billboards promoting the sport
feature giant images of Sharapova as "Maria Mania" sweeps
the globe. She has become the top-draw in the sport, ushering in
a new era of rising stars and helping to broaden the field after
years of Williams sisters' dominance. 2005 finds Sharapova on pace
to take in over $20 million, most of which will come from her endorsements--the
most recent a three-year $6 million deal with Colgate-Palmolive.
But it is tennis where her focus lies. She carries with her a streak
of 17 straight wins on grass heading into Wimbledon 2005, where
she will defend her 2004 championship at the prestigious event. |
|
 |
Maria Sharapova is the most dazzling
tennis player who has ever stepped on tennis court.Maria was born
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. The
Sharapovs 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 |
|