Maria Sharapova
Date of Birth 19/04/1987
Born: Nyagan, Russia (Siberian Region)
Lives: Bradenton, Florida USA
Height: 6’1” (1.85cm)
Weight: 130lbs (59kg)
Turned Pro: 19/04/2001
Sharapova started hitting tennis balls at
four with her dad and coach, Youri Sharapov. At six she featured
in an exhibition in Moscow with Martina Navratilova. By nine Maria
was identified as a future star and began training at the Nick Bolletieri
Tennis Academy in Bradenton, Florida. Because of visa restrictions
and financial difficulties her mother, Yelena, could not visit her
for two years. This shows the determination the Sharapova family
had in helping their daughter maximise her full potential.
Robert Lansdorp, former coach of Lindsey Davenport and Pete Sampras,
has now joined the coaching team in an attempt to take her game
to even greater heights.
Tournament Highlights
Sharapova debuted on the WTA Tour in 2001 at Sarasota aged 14. Her
first world ranking was on March 18th 2001 at No.532.
2003 was her breakthrough season, improving 154 spots to No.32.
She qualified at the Australian Open and Roland Garros and after
making her first tour semi final at Bimingham, Sharapova broke into
the top100 at 88. At Wimbledon she equalled the best female wild
card performance by getting to the 4th round and then in Tokyo she
picked up her first tour singles and doubles titles, defeating Kapros
after trailing 5-2 in the deciding tie break. Her end of season
ranking was a career best of No.31.
2004 was an awesome year for Sharapova, making
her a household name. She won Wimbledon, the Season-ending Championships
and finished top 5.
Maria won her second tour title, a warm up for Wimbledon, at Birmingham
defeating Golovin. At Wimbledon She defeated Hantuchova 3rd Round,
Frazier 4th Round, Sugiyama quarter finals, Davenport semi finals,
and then two time defending champion and number one seed Serena
Williams in the final.
At the end of the season she was ranked No. 4 and toped the prize money list with $2,506,263
2005, Sharapova reached the semi final at
the Australian Open losing to Serena Williams after having held
three match points. Maria won her first Tier I title at Tokyo defeating
Davenport and moved to a career high of No.3. After getting to the
final of Miami (lost to Clijsters) she moved to No.2. At Roland
Garros she fell to Justin Henin Hardenne in the quarter finals.
Looking to regain her Wimbledon title Sharapova fell just short
losing to Venus Williams in the Semi final and ending her 22 match
unbeaten grass court winning streak.
August 22nd she became the worlds No.1 tennis player.
Sharapova stormed through her opponents up to the semi finals of
the US Open, unfortunately her incredible shot making was not good
enough to beat Clijsters as she lost in three sets.
Sharapova creates racket head speed
second to none. Combine her physical qualities with her fantastic
technical abilities and you can see why she has been so successful
so far and why she will be a leading force on the WTA Tour for years
to come.
