Maria Sharapova Biography
Maria Yuryevna Sharapova was born in Nyagan, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union, on April 19, 1987. She is a Russian pro tennis player who is known all over the world. Due to her popularity and good looks, she has worked with many brands outside of sports. The media and press have given her names like “Screaming Cinderella” and “Siberian Siren” because of how she played and the grunts she made during play. She used to be the best tennis player in the world back in the day. From 2001 through 2020, she participated in the WTA Tour. For 21 weeks, the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) ranked her as the best singles player in the world. Sharapova first became world No. 1 on August 22, 2005, when she was 18 years old. She was the first Russian woman to be at the top of the singles rankings.
Growing Up and Tennis
When Sharapova was three years old, her family moved to Sochi, Russia, in the Krasnodar Krai region. When she was 4, she shot her first tennis ball. Sharapova went to a tennis camp run by Martina Navratilova in Moscow when she was six years old. Navratilova suggested that Sharapova get professional training at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida. In 1995, she was signed by IMG, which agreed to pay Sharapova’s $35,000 annual tuition fee so that she could stay at the Academy. This meant that she could finally start at age 9.
Maria Sharapova’s Achievements
Maria Sharapova’s first tournaments were the Australian Open and the French Open in 2003. At both, she lost in the first round. Then, she won her maiden WTA championship at the Japan Open Tennis Championship. In 2003, the WTA gave her the Newcomer of the Year award. In 2007, Sharapova hurt her shoulder, which kept her from playing and led to a string of losses, but at the end of the year, she was still one of the Top 5 women’s tennis players. Sharapova got back on track when she beat Simona Halep to win her second French Open title in June 2014. Maria Sharapova has been the face of top brands like Motorola, Nike, and others.
Romantic Life
In 2009, Sharapova started dating Slovenian basketball player Sasha Vujacic. After dating for a year, the couple said they were getting married in October 2010. But the couple was only together until 2012. Later, from 2013 to 2015, she was with Bulgarian tennis player Grigor Dimitrov.
Controversy
At the 2016 Australian Open, Sharapova was caught in a drug test. She tested positive for meldonium, which the World Anti-Doping Agency had banned as of January 1, 2016. (WADA). The International Tennis Federation told her on June 8, 2016, that she couldn’t play tennis for two years (ITF). On October 4, 2016, the time of the ban was cut down to 15 months.