Maria Sharapova

**Maria Sharapova** (born 19 April 1987) is a retired Russian tennis player. She was born in Nyagan, Western Siberia, RSFSR.

## Early life

Her parents had moved from Belarus to protect themselves from the Chernobyl nuclear accident. The Sharapov<sup>1</sup> family moved again in 1989, when Maria became interested in tennis, when watching her father play, and played tennis with a second-hand racquet. She would practice tennis by hitting the tennis ball against the wall every day, and her dad soon noticed that she was very good at the sport.
Maria's tennis coaches told the Sharapovs that they should move to Moscow, Russia, to get better training. The Sharapova moved again, from Moscow, to follow Maria's coach, Martina Navratilova's advice, to move to the United States.

There was a problem, though. Sharapova's mother, Yelena, could not get a visa to go to the United States. Meanwhile, Maria and her father tried to get Maria to go to a famous sports school, and they also had to learn English. Maria had already learned a lesson in her life  that tennis excellence would only come at a price.

“I used to be so lonely,” Maria Sharapova recalls. “I missed my mother terribly. My father was working as mush as he could to keep my tennis-training going. So, he couldn't see me either “Because I was so young, I used to go to bed at 8 p.m. The other tennis pupils would come in 11 p.m. and wake me up and order me to tidy up the room and clean it.

“Instead of letting that depress me, I became more quietly determined and mentally tough. I learnt how to take care of myself. I never thought of quitting because I knew what I wanted. When you come from nothing and you have nothing, then it makes you very hungry and determine.... I would have put up with much more humiliation and insults that to steadfastly purse my dream." That toughness runs through Maria even today.

## Career

She began to win tournaments and many people started to notice her. Her games improved, and Maria Sharapova gained more fans.

She has won 35 singles titles in her career, including five Grand Slam championships: Wimbledon in 2004, the US Open in 2006, the Australian Open in 2008 and the French Open in 2012 and 2014. She won an Olympic silver medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics. She is the world number 3 women's tennis player as of September 2015. In 2005, she was ranked world number 1 for the first time, and in 2012 for the last time.

In March 2016, Maria Sharapova revealed she had failed a drug test at the 2016 Australian Open, admitting to testing positive for meldonium, a substance banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) at the start of 2016. On June 8, 2016, she was suspended from playing tennis for two years by the International Tennis Federation (ITF).

## Foot

<sup>1</sup>In Russia, female surnames are changed so that their gender can be identified, so Sharapov becomes Sharapov**a**.

## Infobox (person)

- **embed**: yes
- **signature**: Maria Sharapova signature.png


## Infobox (tennis biography)

- **name**: Maria Sharapova
- **image**: Sharapova WM19 (5) (48521917742).jpg
- **caption**: Maria Sharapova in 2019
- **fullname**: Maria Yuryevna Sharapova
- **country**: Russia
- **residence**: Bradenton, Florida, USA
- **birth place**: Nyagan, Russia
- **height**: 188 cm
- **weight**: 59 kg
- **turnedpro**: 19 April 2001
- **retired**: 26 February 2020
- **plays**: Right-handed (two-handed backhand), born left-handed
- **careerprizemoney**: $38,777,962
* WTA Tour records#WTA career prize money leaders, 4th all-time in earnings
- **singlestitles**: 36
- **highestsinglesranking**: List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, No. **1** (22 August 2005)
- **australianopenresult**: **W** (2008 Australian Open - Women's singles, 2008)
- **frenchopenresult**: **W** (2012 French Open - Women's singles, 2012, 2014 French Open - Women's singles, 2014)
- **wimbledonresult**: **W** (2004 Wimbledon Championships - Women's singles, 2004)
- **usopenresult**: **W** (2006 US Open - Women's singles, 2006)
- **othertournaments**: yes
- **olympicsresult**: F (Tennis at the 2012 Summer Olympics - Women's singles, 2012)
- **wtachampionshipsresult**: **W** (2004 WTA Tour Championships - Singles, 2004)
- **doublesrecord**: 23 - 17 (57.5%)
- **doublestitles**: 3
- **highestdoublesranking**: No. 41 (14 June 2004)
- **australianopendoublesresult**: 2R (2003 Australian Open - Women's doubles, 2003, 2004 Australian Open - Women's doubles, 2004)
- **usopendoublesresult**: 2R (2003 US Open - Women's doubles, 2003)
- **mixed**: yes
- **mixedrecord**: 2 - 1 (66.7%)
- **mixedtitles**: 0
- **usopenmixedresult**: QF (2004 US Open - Mixed doubles, 2004)
- **team**: yes
- **fedcupresult**: **W** (2008 Fed Cup World Group, 2008)
- **medaltemplates-expand**: yes