Maria Yuryevna Sharapova, who goes by Maria Sharapova, was born on April 19, 1987. She is a Russian tennis player who won five grand slam titles and was one of the sport’s top competitors in the early twenty-first century. Maria is the top tennis player in the entire globe.
She was ranked first in the world by the Women’s Tennis Association(WTA). She is the only Russian with a Career Grand Slam. She began playing tennis professionally when she was 14 years old.
Despite experiencing numerous injuries throughout her career, Maria Sharapova is one of the select few athletes to win numerous awards and hold onto her place in the sport.
Maria started playing tennis at an early age. In 1994, Maria and her father moved to Florida based on the advice of Czech-born American tennis star Martina Navratilova. In Florida, she first took up training at Rick Macci Tennis Academy, since she was initially denied admission to Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy because she was too young. Afterward, she earned a scholarship to a tennis academy. In 1995, she was signed by IMG and also approved to pay her tuition fee of $35,000 for her to remain in the academy.
In the 2004 WTA Tour Championships, Maria Sharapova defeated Serena to emerge as the winner.
On August 22, 2005, Maria Sharapova became the first Russian woman to attain the top ranking in the world. With her victory at the French Open in 2011, she became the tenth woman to complete a Career Grand Slam.
At the 2012 French Open, Maria Sharapova won her fourth overall title and first grand slam singles victory since 2008. She became the sixth woman in the open era to achieve a Career Grand Slam in singles. She has 35 singles titles and 5 Grand Slam victories to her name. She was the first participant at the 2014 Winter Olympics torch-lighting ceremony in Russia.
In 2010, Maria Sharapova won the WTA Fan Favorite Singles Player, WTA Most Fashionable Player (on and off the court), and WTA Humanitarian of the Year awards.
