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Maria Yuryevna Sharapova (Russian
language|Russian: Мари́я Ю́рьевна
Шара́пова; born April 19, 1987) is a
Russian professional tennis player, currently
ranked World No. 2.. Her parents are originally
from Gomel, Belarus, but moved to Russian
SFSR|Russia in 1986 in the aftermath of the
Chernobyl accident|Chernobyl nuclear accident.
Sharapova was born in Nyagan, Russia, the
following year.

==Career==
At the age of three, Sharapova moved with her
family to the resort town of Sochi, Russia|Sochi,
beginning to play tennis at the age of four, using
a racquet given to her by Yevgeny Kafelnikov's
father. At age five or six, at a tennis clinic in
Moscow, Sharapova was spotted by Martina
Navratilova, who urged her parents to get her
serious coaching in the United States.

In 2004, Sharapova became the second youngest
Wimbledon Championships|Wimbledon women's champion
in the Tennis Open Era|Open Era (after Martina
Hingis) by defeating defending two-time champion
Serena Williams in straight sets (6-1, 6-4).  In
the process she also became the first Russian ever
to win that tournament.

Maria Sharapova uses the Prince Shark Racket.
Since, the popularity of the racket has gone
through the roof.

A 6 ft 2 in. blonde, Sharapova is regarded by many
as possessing a natural beauty and figure and has
done some model (person)|modeling, having signed a
contract in November 2003 with IMG Models.  She
enjoys fashion and is known to read celebrity
magazines. However, she says she does not want to
overdo these activities, preferring to focus on
her tennis. She is often compared to Anna
Kournikova, also a Russian Nick
Bollettieri|Bollettieri student and model. 
However, Sharapova, Bollettieri, and Kournikova
all reject the comparison. 

From June 2004 until her Wimbledon semi-final
appearance in 2005, Sharapova had a 22-match
winning streak on grass, including back-to-back
Birmingham titles and the Wimbledon crown.
Sharapova's huge success continued after winning
Wimbledon, with a victory at the WTA Season-Ending
Championships and consistent results. 

In April 2005, Sharapova was listed by People
Magazine as among the 50 most beautiful
celebrities in the world. In June of 2005, Forbes
magazine listed Sharapova as the highest-paid
female athlete in the world, with annual earnings
of $18 million.  A signficant portion of this
amount came from endorsements.

Defending her Wimbledon title in 2005 proved to be
a simple enough task at first, with Sharapova
sailing through to the semi-finals with ease
without losing a set. However, she dropped her
first set of the tournament against a rejuvenated
Venus Williams and lost the match 6-7 1-6 in one
of the most thrilling and masterful displays of
power and accuracy seen in the women's game.
Sharapova's streak on grass was ended, as was her
quest for the No. 1 ranking, with Lindsay
Davenport, who lost a historic match to Venus
Williams in the 2005 Wimbledon final, holding
firm.

However, a back injury Davenport sustained in the
Wimbledon final meant that she could not defend
her titles won during the US hard court season of
2004. Because of this, she lost valuable ranking
points. Sharapova was also suffering from an
injury and did not complete a tournament during
the season; however, she had fewer points to
defend and therefore rose to the No. 1 ranking on
August 22, 2005. However, Sharapova's reign was
shortlived, lasting only a week after Davenport
re-ascended after winning the New Haven title.

==US Open 2005== 
Sharapova has advanced to the Quarterfinals of the
US Open and is facing Nadia Petrova of Russia.

==Education==
Sharapova studies via correspondence on the
internet with the Keystone High School home
education|home schooling program and has a liking
for sociology.
She is doing very well. She is expected to win
this set and go on to the quarter finals, but
Sania Mirza is proving to be a tough opponent to
beat.

==Awards==


2003
* WTA Newcomer of the Year

2004
* WTA Player of the Year
* WTA Most Improved Player of the Year
* WTA Player Service

==Titles (10)==
{| cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" border="1"
style="border: #cccccc solid 1px; border-collapse:
collapse;"
|- bgcolor="#eeeeee" 
|Legend (Singles)
|- bgcolor="#e5d1cb" 
| Grand Slam (1)
|- bgcolor="#ffffcc" 
| WTA Championships (1)
|- bgcolor="#dfe2e9"
| Tier I Event (1)
|- bgcolor="#ffffff" 
| WTA Tour (7)
|}

===Singles (10)===
{| bgcolor="#f7f8ff" cellpadding="3"
cellspacing="0" border="1" style="font-size: 95%;
border: #cccccc solid 1px; border-collapse:
collapse;"
|- bgcolor="#eeeeee"
|No.
|Date
|Tournament
|Surface
|Opponent in the final
|Score
|-
| 1.
| Sep 29, 2003
| Tokyo, Japan
| Hard
| Aniko Kapros (Hungary)      
| 2-6 6-2 7-6
|-
| 2.
| Oct 27, 2003
| Quebec City, Canada 
| Hard
| Milagros Sequera (Venezuela)
| 6-2 RET
|-
| 3.
| Jun 7, 2004
| Birmingham, Great Britain
| Grass
| Tatiana Golovin (France)
| 4-6 6-2 6-1
|-
| bgcolor="e5d1cb"|4.
| bgcolor="e5d1cb"|Jun 21, 2004                   
  
| bgcolor="e5d1cb"|Wimbledon
Championships|Wimbledon, London, Great Britain
| bgcolor="e5d1cb"|Grass
| bgcolor="e5d1cb"|Serena Williams (USA)
| bgcolor="e5d1cb"|6-1 6-4
|-
| 5.
| Sep 27, 2004                      
| Seoul, South Korea
| Hard
| Marta Domachowska (Poland)
| 6-1 6-1
|-
| 6.
| Oct 4, 2004  
| Tokyo, Japan 
| Hard
| Mashona Washington (United States|USA) 
| 6-0 6-1
|-
| bgcolor="ffffcc"|7.
| bgcolor="ffffcc"|Nov 8, 2004
| bgcolor="ffffcc"|WTA Tour Championships|WTA
Championships, Los Angeles, USA
| bgcolor="ffffcc"|Hard
| bgcolor="ffffcc"|Serena Williams (USA)
| bgcolor="ffffcc"|4-6 6-2 6-4
|-
| bgcolor="#dfe2e9"|8.
| bgcolor="#dfe2e9"|Feb 6, 2005
| bgcolor="#dfe2e9"|Tokyo, Japan
| bgcolor="#dfe2e9"|Carpet
| bgcolor="#dfe2e9"|Lindsay Davenport (USA)
| bgcolor="#dfe2e9"|6-1 3-6 7-6
|-
| 9.
| Feb 21, 2005
| Doha, Qatar
| Hard
| Alicia Molik (Australia) 
| 4-6 6-1 6-4
|-
| 10.
| Jun 6, 2005
| Birmingham, Great Britain
| Grass
| Jelena Jankovic (Serbia & Montenegro) 
| 6-2 4-6 6-1
|}

===Singles Finalist (2)===
*2004: Zurich (lost to Alicia Molik)
*2005: Miami (lost to Kim Clijsters)

===Performance Timeline===
{| bgcolor="#f7f8ff" cellpadding="3"
cellspacing="0" border="1" style="font-size: 95%;
border: gray solid 1px; border-collapse:
collapse;"
|- bgcolor="#efefef"
! Tournament !! 2005 !! 2004 !! 2003 !! 2002 !!
Career
|-
|Australian Open
|align="center"|SF
|align="center"|3r
|align="center"|1r
|align="center"|-
|align="center"|0

|-
|French Open
|align="center"|QF
|align="center"|QF
|align="center"|1r
|align="center"|-
|align="center"|0

|-
|Wimbledon Championships|Wimbledon
|align="center"|SF
|align="center"|W
|align="center"|4r
|align="center"|-
|align="center"|1

|-
|U.S. Open
|align="center"|
|align="center"|3r
|align="center"|2r
|align="center"|-
|align="center"|0

|-
|WTA Tour Championships
|align="center"|
|align="center"|W
|align="center"|-
|align="center"|-
|align="center"|1

|- 
|Finals reached 
|align="center"|4
|align="center"|6
|align="center"|2
|align="center"|0
|align="center"|12

|- bgcolor="#efefef"
|Tournaments Won 
|align="center"|3
|align="center"|5
|align="center"|2
|align="center"|0
|align="center"|10

|- 
|Hardcourt Win-Loss
|align="center"|18-3
|align="center"|55-15
|align="center"|34-12
|align="center"|1-2
|align="center"|73-23

|- 
|Carpet Win-Loss
|align="center"|4-0
|align="center"|1-1
|align="center"|0-0
|align="center"|0-0
|align="center"|5-1

|- 
|Grass Win-Loss
|align="center"|10-1
|align="center"|12-0
|align="center"|9-2
|align="center"|0-0
|align="center"|34-3

|- 
|Clay Win-Loss
|align="center"|8-2
|align="center"|8-3
|align="center"|5-2
|align="center"|0-0
|align="center"|13-5

|- bgcolor="#efefef"
|Overall Win-Loss
|align="center"|36-5
|align="center"|55-15
|align="center"|34-12
|align="center"|1-2
|align="center"|118-31

|- bgcolor="#efefef"
|Year End Ranking 
|align="center"|
|align="center"|4
|align="center"|32
|align="center"|186
|align="center"|N/A
|}

==External links==
*wta|id=310137|name=Maria Sharapova


Tennis World Number Ones (women)