Descibe the journey of Maria Sharapova from a little Siberian girl to a legendary tennis player
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Maria Sharapova
Sharapova at the 2015 Mutua Madrid Open
Full nameMaria Yuryevna
SharapovaNative nameМария Юрьевна ШараповаCountry (sports) RussiaResidenceManhattan Beach,California, U.S.BornApril 19, 1987 (age 31)
Nyagan, Russian SFSR, Soviet UnionHeight1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)[1]Turned proApril 19, 2001[1]PlaysRight-handed (two-handed backhand)CoachYuri Sharapov
Michael Joyce
(2004 – 2011)
Thomas Hogstedt
(2011 – 2013,
2018 – present)
Jimmy Connors (2013)
Sven Groeneveld (2014 – 2018)Prize money$38,548,68[2]3rd in all-time rankings (female)Official websitemariasharapova.comSinglesCareer record643–164 (79.68%)[1]Career titles36 WTA, 4 ITFHighest rankingNo. 1 (August 22, 2005)[1]Current rankingNo. 29 (January 28, 2019)[1]Grand Slam Singles resultsAustralian OpenW (2008)French OpenW (2012, 2014)WimbledonW (2004)US OpenW (2006)Other tournamentsTour FinalsW (2004)DoublesCareer record23–17 (57.5%) [1]Career titles3 WTA[1]Highest rankingNo. 41 (June 14, 2004)[1]Grand Slam Doubles resultsAustralian Open2R (2003, 2004)US Open2R (2003)Mixed doublesCareer record2–1 (66.7%)Career titles0Grand Slam Mixed Doubles resultsUS OpenQF (2004)Team competitionsFed CupW (2008),
Record 7–1
Medal record
Representing  RussiaOlympic Games2012 LondonSingles
Last updated on: 3 September 2018.

Maria Sharapova signature
Sharapova became the world No. 1 for the first time on August 22, 2005, at the age of 18, becoming the first Russian female tennis player to top the singles rankings, and last held the ranking for the fifth time for four weeks from June 11, 2012, to July 8, 2012.[4][5] Her 36 singles titles and five Grand Slam titles—two at the French Open and one each at the Australian Open, Wimbledon, andUS Open—rank third among active players, behind Serena and Venus Williams. She won the year-ending WTA Finals in her debut in 2004. She has also won three doubles titles.
Despite an injury-prone career, Sharapova has achieved a rare level of longevity in the women's game. She won at least one singles title a year from 2003 until 2015, a streak only bested by Steffi Graf, Martina Navratilova, andChris Evert. Several tennis pundits and former players have called Sharapova one of tennis's best competitors, with John McEnroe calling her one of the best the sport has ever seen.[6]
Sharapova has been featured in a number of modeling assignments, including a feature in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. She has appeared in many advertisements, including those for Nike, Prince, and Canon, and has been the face of several fashion houses, most notably Cole Haan. Since February 2007, she has been a United Nations Development Programme Goodwill Ambassador, concerned specifically with the Chernobyl Recovery and Development Programme. In June 2011, she was named one of the "30 Legends of Women's Tennis: Past, Present and Future" byTime[7] and in March 2012 was named one of the "100 Greatest of All Time" by Tennis Channel. According to Forbes, she has been named highest-paid female athlete in the world for 11 consecutive years and earnedUS$285 million (including prize money) since she turned pro in 2001.[8][9]
In March 2016, Sharapova revealed she had failed a drug test at the 2016 Australian Openon January 26, 2016. She had tested positive for meldonium, a substance that had been banned (effective January 1, 2016) by theWorld Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). On June 8, 2016, she was suspended from playing tennis for two years by the International Tennis Federation (ITF).[10][11][12] On October 4, 2016, the suspension was reduced to 15 months, starting from the date of the failed test, as the Court of Arbitration for Sports found that she had committed "no significant fault" and that she had taken the substance "based on a doctor's recommendation ... with good faith belief that it was appropriate and compliant with the relevant rules".[13][14][15]She returned to the WTA Tour on April 26, 2017 at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.
In 2018, she launched a new programme to mentor women entrepreneurs.[16]
Beautiful woman and future tennis player Maria Yrievna Sharapova was born in a distant Siberian town Nyagan on April 19, 1987. Masha’s parents Yuri Viktorovich Sharapov and Elena Petrovna Sharapova were born in Gomel, Belarus. But they decided to leave the city few months before the birth of their daughter, because Gomel is not far from Chernobyl. This town became a source of environmental pollution and radiation. Masha was born in a safe and clean area, and soon the family moved to the south, and chose to live in Sochi.
Masha started to play tennis very early. At the age of four, the girl has already known how to hold a racket. There is information that Evgeny Kafelnikov presented the first racket to the future champion. The father of the legendary Russian tennis player was friends with Masha's father Yuri Sharapov.
When Maria was 6, she played one tennis game with Martina Navratilova: the sportswoman gave tennis lessons during her visit to Moscow. Navratilova understood that little Sharapova was a talented child and advised Masha's parents to go to the tennis academy of Nick Bollettieri located in America. Yuri Sharapov was very serious about his daughter’s sports future and followed the advice. In 1995, Masha and her father moved to the United States. They decided to live in Bradenton, where the school was situated. Maria Sharapova lives there now.
It was difficult for Maria Sharapova to get used to her schedule of activities and physical exercises. She stood it and became a strong-willed person. At this period she developed the will to win at all costs.
Sharapova made her debut in 2001 in Sarasota in adult tournaments organized by the International Tennis Federation. She was only 14 years old at that time. Though the young tennis player lost in the first round, her great sports career has begun. «The first time is always the hardest " and it only made the sportswoman to work harder. A year later in Columbus Maria Sharapova defeated her opponent, who was one of the top 300 tennis players in the world. And Masha was not even in the rating of the Women's Tennis Association.
Since childhood Sharapova has developed her own style of playing tennis. It was always a loud shout after kicking the ball and Maria’s competitors couldn’t stand it. There is information that Maria’s grunting on court sometimes reaches 105 decibels. It is like the sound of a jet plane engine.
Sharapova’s grunting irritates her opponents. Some of them even lose games because their nervous system was on edge. Maria Sharapova knows about thiat, but she is not going to change anything:
"I absolutely do not care about other people’s opinion. This is my way of playing since childhood, and I'm not going to change it! ".
Her father Yuri Sharapov previously accompanied his daughter during her sports competitions. He also has his own way of rooting for Masha. Sharapov often uses abusive language at matches, though not everyone wants to hear it. He often quarrels with fans, and Maria’s opponents complain of his rude actions.
In July, 2004 there was Maria’s greatest victory. She won Wimbledon. She managed to defeat her opponent - the two-time tournament winner, Serena Williams in the final of the women's singles category. This victory allowed Sharapova to enter the elite of the women's tennis world.
During the period from August 2008 to March 2009 Maria did not appear on court. She had a surgery on her shoulder. But in 2010 she returned and this return was marked by a series of victories. By the way, Sharapova is an ambidextrous; It means she is able to use right and left hands equally well.
In July 2012, the tennis player Sharapova became the standard-bearer of the Russian team in London, at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games.