Maria Sharapova Biography
Maria Sharapova, born April 19, 1987, is a former Russian professional tennis player who was the first Russian woman to win Wimbledon and won a silver medal at the London Olympics in 2012. She is based in Florida Maria Sharapova began her professional tennis career at the age of 14, and has endured multiple injuries throughout her career.
Wiki Profile
| Real Name: | Maria Yuryevna Sharapova |
| Date of Birth | April 19, 1987 |
| Place of Birth: | Nyagan, Siberia, Russia |
| Nationality: | Russian |
| Marital Status: | Engaged |
| Occupation: | Pro Tennis Player |
| Net Worth | $180 million |
Early Life and Education
Born Maria Yuryevna Sharapova in Nyagan, Siberia, Russia, on April 19, 1987, to Yuri Sharapov and Yelena. Her parents are from Gomel, Byelorussian SSR.
They left their homeland shortly before Maria was born, fearful of the regional consequences of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear accident.
Sharapova attended a tennis clinic in Moscow in 1993, at the age of six, run by Czech-born American tennis star Martina Navratilova.
She was recommended to a professional training with Nick Bollettieri for Maria at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, who had previously trained players such as Andre Agassi, Monica Seles, and Anna Kournikova.
Yuri Sharapov borrowed money to enable him and his daughter, neither of whom spoke English, to travel to the United States, which they did in 1994.
Maria moved to Florida with her father with the scholarship she earned to train at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy at the age of nine.
Her mother had to stay back in Russia as she did not get visa and joined them after two years.
Maria Sharapova was not admitted to the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy right away because she was too young.
She began her tennis training at the Rick Macci Tennis Academy before signing a contract with the International Management Group (IMG), a global sports and talent management organization based in New York.
Career
Sharapova rose to prominence in tennis when, at the age of 13, she won the Eddie Herr International Junior Tennis Championships in the girls’ 16 division.
She was then given a special honor, the Rising Star Award, which is only given to players who show exceptional promise.
Sharapova made her professional debut on April 19, 2001, on her 14th birthday, and played her first WTA tournament in 2002, winning a match before losing to Monica Seles.
In 2002, Sharapova advanced to the finals of the girls’ singles events at the Australian Open and Wimbledon. At 14 years and 9 months, she was the youngest girl ever to reach the final of the Australian Open junior championship.
Sharapova won her first WTA title at the 2003 AIG Japan Open and advanced to the fourth round of Wimbledon on her first attempt that year.
The following year, she won the Wimbledon singles title, becoming Russia’s first female Wimbledon champion. She added a WTA Championships title to her resume at the end of 2004.
Sharapova became the first Russian woman to reach the top of the tennis rankings in 2005, and she won her second Grand Slam title the following year at the U.S. Open.
The tennis star was hampered by shoulder issues for much of 2007 and 2008, but she still managed to win her third Grand Slam, dominating at the 2008 Australian Open.
She eventually had shoulder surgery that October, and the resulting layoff kept her out of the Top 100 until her return to singles play in May 2009.
Sharapova struggled to regain her consistency, but by the end of 2009, she was back in the Top 20 and ranked No. 4 in the world.
Sharapova defeated Sara Errani in the French Open final in June 2012. She became the 10th woman in history to complete a career Grand Slam (winning all four major tournaments – Australian Open (2008), French Open (2012, 2014) Wimbledon (2004), US Open (2006)), and she reclaimed the world No. 1 ranking.
Sharapova won a silver medal in women’s singles at the 2012 Summer Olympics, her Olympic debut, losing the gold medal to American tennis star Serena Williams.
In subsequent majors, the Russian played well, finishing runner-up at the 2013 French Open.
However, shoulder issues caused her to withdraw from the rest of the season not long after a disappointing second-round loss at Wimbledon.
Sharapova regained her form in 2014, winning her second French Open and fifth Grand Slam title overall by defeating Simona Halep.
In 2015, she reached the Australian Open final and the US Open semifinals before finishing the year ranked fourth.
Maria Sharapova Net Worth
Maria Sharapova is a Russian professional tennis player with a net worth of $180 million.
Personal Life
Sharapova began dating Slovenian basketball player Sasha Vujacic in 2009, and the couple married the following year.
However, during a post-match press conference at the 2012 US Open, Sharapova announced that the engagement had been called off and that her relationship with Vujacic had ended.
From 2013 to 2015, she dated Bulgarian tennis pro Grigor Dimitrov. Since 2018, she has been linked to Paddle8 co-founder Alexander Gilkes.
In December 2020, Sharapova and Gilkes revealed they were engaged. Sharapova announced that they are expecting their first child in April 2022.
Drug Ban
In March 2016, Sharapova was sanctioned by the tennis anti-drug agency for taking a banned substance.
According to Maria, she had been taking this substance for over 10 years due to health issues and at the time, the drug was not an illegal substance to the Tennis commission.
The drug was added to the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) prohibited list on January 1, 2016 of which she didn’t know.
Due to the sanction, she was banned from competing for 2 years but it was later reduced to 15 months following an appeal.
Social Media
- Instagram: @mariasharapova
- Twitter: @MariaSharapova
