Maria Yuryevna Sharapova ( ) (born April 19, 1987) is a Russian professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. As of 15 October 2007, she is the fifth-ranked female player in the world. At the end of 2006, she was the world's highest-paid female athlete.

Her family name in English is often stressed on third syllable (Sharapóva), whereas the original Russian is stressed on the second syllable (Sharápova).

Sharapova has won two Grand Slam singles titles. She is a former U.S. Open champion, having defeated Justine Henin in the final of the 2006 U.S. Open. Two years earlier, she defeated Serena Williams in the final at Wimbledon.

In 2006 Sharapova signed a lifetime endorsment deal with Prince Sports, Inc., a longtime sponsor of Sharapova. She currently plays with the O3 White racquet.

Sharapova has been labelled as an offensive baseliner by tennis critics and fans. She is noted for having an excellent forehand and serves; particularly for the power and placement of these shots. She also is noted for having a good double-handed backhand. Likewise, critics claim that for her height, Sharapova has decent agility on-court. Being an offensive player, Sharapova is usually able to overpower her opponents or keep them on the run with sharp angles from the baseline. However she is not known for being among the strongest of defensive players. She loses precision on her groundstrokes when she is put on the run herself, a weakness that the best all-around players will exploit. Sharapova is also not a natural volleyer. Instead of having "soft hands" at the net, she typically uses a powerful "swinging" volley for net approaches. Sharapova usually serves for placement but uses enough power on her first and second serve that attacking that stroke was very difficult for her opponents.

Due to her injury problems, Sharapova has adopted a new service action, with a shorter backswing. Sharapova's first and second serve has become less effective during the 2007 season. Previously, Sharapova had an elongated backswing to generate power on her serve; however, as a trade-off, the swing also placed incredible strain on her shoulder, which eventually led to Sharapova's shoulder injury at the beginning of the 2007 season.

Sharapova's parents moved from Homel, Belarus, to Siberia, Russia, in 1986, after the Chernobyl nuclear accident. She was born the following year in Nyagan, Russia.

Sharapova's father, Yuri Sharapov, brought Maria to the United States to attend the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Bradenton, Florida when she was 7 years old. Her mother, Yelena, who could not come with them because of visa restrictions, followed a few years later. Sharapova has lived in the United States since then but retains her Russian citizenship.

Until recently, Sharapova lived most of the year near the IMG training facility in Bradenton with her pomeranian, Dolce, who is featured in one of her advertisements for Canon PowerShot. According to the announcers at her first round match at the 2007 U.S. Open, she has moved to Southern California.

Sharapova is good friends with fellow Russian tennis player Maria Kirilenko, and has called actress Camilla Belle her best friend.

In 2004, a year after reaching the fourth round of Wimbledon as a wild card, Sharapova became the third-youngest Wimbledon women's champion (after Lottie Dod and Martina Hingis) and second-youngest in the open era by defeating Ai Sugiyama (5-7, 7-5, 6-1) in a quarterfinal, Lindsay Davenport (2-6, 7-6, 6-1) in a semifinal, and two-time defending champion Serena Williams (6-1, 6-4) in the final. She also became the first Russian to win that tournament. At the U.S. Open a few months later, she lost to French player and two-time Grand Slam champion Mary Pierce. During her match against Mary Pierce in the 2004 U.S. Open, Sharapova and several other Russian women tennis players wore a black ribbon in observance of the tragedy after the Beslan school hostage crisis which took place only a few days before. Sharapova ended 2004 with a victory at the season-ending WTA Championships, defeating an injured Serena Williams (4-6, 6-2, 6-4) after coming back from 0-4 in the final set. After losing to Sharapova in a semifinal of this event, Anastasia Myskina said: "He [Sharapova's father] was just yelling and screaming instructions to her and I thought he just might jump right on the court at one point in the match."

From June 2004 until her Wimbledon semifinal appearance in 2005, Sharapova won 22 straight matches on grass, including consecutive Birmingham titles and the Wimbledon title. She reached the semifinals of the 2005 Australian Open, where she held three match points against Serena Williams before losing 2-6, 7-5, 8-6. Off court, she was paid for numerous commercial endorsements. In February, she won her first Tier 1 event in Tokyo

Defending her Wimbledon title in 2005, Sharapova reached the semifinals without losing a set but then was well beaten by a rejuvenated Venus Williams (7-6, 6-1). Sharapova's streak on grass was ended, as was her quest to dethrone top-ranked Lindsay Davenport.

However, Davenport injured her back in the Wimbledon final, preventing her from defending the ranking points she obtained during the U.S. hard-court season of 2004. Sharapova had fewer points to defend and therefore rose to the No. 1 ranking on August 22, 2005. Her reign lasted only one week, however, as Davenport re-ascended to the top ranking after winning the title in New Haven. Sharapova rose to the No. 1 ranking again on September 12, 2005, despite losing in the semifinals of the U.S. Open. Sharapova kept the No. 1 ranking for six weeks before relinquishing it again to Davenport following the 2005 Zurich Open.

Before facing Clijsters Maria asked for a toilet break and during her time there a security guard noticed she was crying and slammed her fist against the war and asked the commentator has she lost and she told him no. She came out as a better player from what her opposition noticed. Sharapova's loss in a semifinal of the 2005 U.S. Open against Kim Clijsters marked the fourth time that year she had lost at a Grand Slam tournament to the eventual champion: Australian Open-SF-Serena Williams, French Open-QF-Justine Henin-Hardenne, Wimbledon-SF-Venus Williams, U.S. Open-SF-Clijsters.

At the 2006 Australian Open, Sharapova lost in the semifinals to Justine Henin-Hardenne 4-6, 6-1, 6-4, the only match of the year that she lost after winning the first set.

Sharapova claimed her first title of 2006 and eleventh of her career at the Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, California, a Tier 1 event at which she was the third seed. Sharapova and No. 4 seed Elena Dementieva became the first Russians to reach the event's final, with Sharapova triumphing 6-1, 6-2. Soon after, Sharapova lost in the final of the Nasdaq-100 Open to Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-4, 6-3. Had Sharapova won the match, she would've became only the third player (after Steffi Graf and Kim Clijsters) in history to win the Indian Wells-Miami double.

Sharapova participated at the 2006 French Open without having played any of the clay-court tune-ups. After saving three match points in the first round against Mashona Washington, Sharapova was eliminated in the fourth round by Dinara Safina 7-5, 2-6, 7-5, after Sharapova led 5-1 in the third set. Sharapova lost 18 of the match's last 21 points.

Sharapova welcomed the onset of the grass season but failed to add a third successive Birmingham title to her collection, losing in the semifinals to American Jamea Jackson.

For the second consecutive year, Sharapova was defeated in the semifinals of Wimbledon, losing to eventual winner Amélie Mauresmo 6-3, 3-6, 6-2.

Sharapova claimed her second title of 2006 as the second seed at the Acura Classic in San Diego, defeating top-seeded Kim Clijsters 7-5, 7-5. This was Sharapova's first victory over Clijsters in five meetings. Many believe that this win was the turnaround for this season.

Sharapova played at Los Angeles, but lost to Elena Dementieva in the semifinals. It was her only summer hardcourt loss that year.

Sharapova entered the 2006 U.S. Open seeded third after Clijsters dropped out of the tournament with a wrist injury. Favoured to reach the final, she defeated Mauresmo, the top-ranked player in the world, in a semifinal 6-0, 4-6, 6-0. Sharapova then prevailed over Henin-Hardenne in the final 6-4, 6-4 to win her second Grand Slam title. She joined the list of players who had beaten the Top 2 players in the world to win a Grand Slam, as well as the list of players who had beaten the Top 2 players in a row in the same tournament.



Sharapova won the Zurich Open, defeating Daniela Hantuchová 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 in the final. Sharapova then won the Generali Ladies Linz, defeating fellow Russian and defending champion Nadia Petrova 7-5, 6-2, to take her fifth title of 2006 and the 15th title of her career.

Until her loss in the semifinals of the WTA Tour Championships, Sharapova had won 19 consecutive matches. She finished the year with a 59-9 record and won more Tier I titles than any other player.

In 2007, Sharapova reached the final of the Watson Water Champions Challenge, an exhibition tournament and warm-up for the 2007 Australian Open, where she was defeated by Kim Clijsters 6-3, 7-6(8).

At the Australian Open, the top-seeded Sharapova defeated the 62nd-ranked Camille Pin in the first round 6-3, 4-6, 9-7 on her fourth match point. The match was played in air temperatures that exceeded 40 °C (104 °F) and on-court temperatures that exceeded 50 °C (122 °F). In the fourth round, Sharapova defeated compatriot Vera Zvonareva 7-5, 6-4. In the quarterfinals, Sharapova overcame the twelfth-seeded Anna Chakvetadze 7-6(5), 7-5. She then defeated fourth-seeded Clijsters 6-4, 6-2 in the semifinals to reach her first Australian Open final and gain the opportunity to win the only Grand Slam singles title that a Russian woman had not yet won. However, Serena Williams, ranked No. 81 in the world, beat Sharapova easily 6-1, 6-2. Williams was the third-lowest-ranked player in the open era to win a Grand Slam singles title.

Her next tournament was the Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, California, where she was the defending champion and top seed. However, she lost to Zvonareva in the fourth round 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 after leading 5-4 in the second set.

At the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida, as the two-time defending finalist, Sharapova again lost easily to Serena Williams, this time in the fourth round 6-1, 6-1. In her previous rounds, she had defeated Yung-Jan Chan of Taipei and Venus Williams.

Sharapova was scheduled to play in the Family Circle Cup in Charleston, but a shoulder injury kept her off the tour and prevented her from playing in the Fed Cup tie against Spain and the Qatar Telecom German Open. She was scheduled to make her return to the tour at the Telecom Italia Masters Roma in Rome, but she had to pull out again because, as she said on her official website, she was not ready to play there even though her body was slowly getting better. She finally made her return at the Istanbul Cup, her first clay court tournament of the year, where she lost to Frenchwoman Aravane Rezaï in the semifinals 6-2, 6-4.

Sharapova then reached semifinals of the French Open for the first time in her career. She defeated Patty Schnyder in a controversial fourth round match after being down match point, then beat fellow Russian Anna Chakvetadze in the quarterfinals. In her semifinal match she fell to Ana Ivanović with a lopsided score of 6-2, 6-1.

At the DFS Classic in Birmingham, United Kingdom, Sharapova lost in the final to second seeded Jelena Janković 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 having led 3-0 in the final set.

Sharapova had an indifferent Wimbledon, falling victim to eventual champion Venus Williams, in the fourth round. Sharapova was subdued by Williams' dominant serve and crashed out in straight sets, 6-1, 6-3. This was the first time she had lost in a Grand Slam fourth round since the 2006 French Open and the second time she has lost at the fourth round stage in Wimbledon, the first being at the 2003 Wimbledon Championships as a qualifier.

Sharapova was scheduled to play the Fed Cup for Russia in their semifinal tie against the USA during the weekend 14-15 July. However, amid considerable controversy, she withdrew claiming that her shoulder injury that has been bothering her for most of the year is causing problems again. On July 18, three days after Russia booked a place in the final with Italy, team captain Shamil Tarpishchev announced that Sharapova would be ineligible from selection for this year's tournament.

Sharapova supported [[Sochi] 2014 Winter Olympics bid, and the city was eventually chosen to hold the games, becoming the first Russian (as Russian Federation) city on doing so.

Sharapova then played her first summer hardcourt tournament, the Acura Classic in San Diego, California, where she was the defending champion. This was the final ever edition of the tournament, as it has now been discontinued. Heading into the tournament Sharapova was questioned for her seesaw season. Sharapova had also been questioned over her uncharacteristic shaky serves and double faults this season, but she showed no signs of that as well as she hit 9 aces in her second round match, including one that reached 113 mph (181.1 km/h). Later in the tournament, she hit one that reached 184 km/h. The problem had been aggravated by a shoulder injury. Sharapova came through to the final relatively unscathed; she had not lost more than three games in a set, and has not lost more than 5 games in a match. In the final, she faced #11 seed Patty Schnyder and ended up winning 6-2, 3-6, 6-0, claiming her first title of the year and the 16th title of her career. (Until the loss of the second set, Sharapova had won 19 consecutive sets there).

Her next tournament was the East West Bank Classic in Los Angeles, California. As the top seed, she had a first round bye. She faced Eleni Daniilidou of Greece in the second round. Sharapova was leading 7-6(5), 3-1 when her opponent retired injured. She then survived a marathon against Netherland´s unseeded Michaëlla Krajicek. Sharapova was down 2-4 in the second and was able to take the set to a tie-break, but she lost it 7-3. She then was twice a break down in the third, but eventually she prevailed 7-6(4),6-7(3),6-4 in 2 hours and 47 minutes. In the quarters she faced the number 9 seed and defending champion Elena Dementieva, who beat Sharapova in the semis last year. Sharapova then moved into the semis after winning in straight sets 6-3 6-4 in 1 hour and 30 minutes after breaking Dementieva 5 times with Dementieva breaking her once in each set. She was scheduled to face another fellow Russian Nadia Petrova, but she withdrew briefly before the match with a shin injury. Sharapova had already pulled out of the Rogers Cup and faced a race against time to be fit for the U.S. Open.

The US open draw was released on August 22nd; with Sharapova seeded #2. Sharapova was favored to reach the final due to all of the strongest opponents all being in the top half of the draw, and she breezed through her first two rounds against Roberta Vinci and Casey Dellacqua, dropping a total of only two games for both matches. After being seemingly invincible in the first two rounds, Sharapova dropped the first set to 18 year old Pole Agnieszka Radwańska. She took the second set 6-1, as well as a 2-0 lead in the third. Radwańska ran off six straight games to claim the upset 6-4, 1-6, 6-2. It was Sharapova's earliest exit at a Slam since she lost in the same round at the U.S. Open three years ago to Mary Pierce (also in three sets). She had 12 double faults and a total of 49 unforced errors for the match. This was the first time since 1981 that the 2nd seed had lost before the fourth round.

When the September 10th rankings were released, Sharapova had dropped two spots to #4. It's the first time she's been out of the Top 2 since November of 2006. Also, Svetlana Kuznetsova, who is now at a career-high #2, replaced Sharapova as the top-ranked Russian player. It was the first time Sharapova did not have this honor since the end of 2004 (where she was behind Anastasia Myskina), with the exception of a brief period in May 2006 where Nadia Petrova was the highest-ranked Russian player. Sharapova is currently at #7 in the Race Rankings, so she is not guaranteed yet to be one of the Top 8. Justine Henin, Jelena Janković, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Ana Ivanović are the first four to qualify for Madrid. Sharapova is behind Anna Chakvetadze and Serena Williams with the likes of Venus Williams close behind.

On October 4th, it was announced on her official web-site that she had accepted wildcard to enter the Kremlin Cup in Moscow, which started on October 8th. Sharapova was the #2 seed there and had a first round bye. Unfortunately, in the second round she crashed out to Victoria Azarenka of Belarus 7-6(9), 6-2. Sharapova had six set points in the first set, including a 5-3, 40-0 on her serve, as well as 6-5, 7-6, and 9-8 during the tiebreaker. She could not convert, and it appeared to haunt her as she was broken twice in the second set to lose unexpectedly early. Despite the Kremlin Cup being hosted in her home country, Sharapova had never won two matches at one time in the past three years. Her record at the event is 2-3.

She will now head to the Zurich Open where she is the defending champion, which begins on October 15th. She needed to have a strong showing, as the year-end championships begins in less than a month and Sharapova is only at #6 on the race. However, on October 15th, it was annonced that Sharapova had withdrawn from the event due to the continuing shoulder problems she has been suffering throughout the year. She might not play until 2008, which could cause her to drop out of the top 10.

Anna Chakvetadze later secured a berth in the Sony Ericsson Championships. Based off of the results in Linz, where Marion Bartoli lost in the semis and Daniela Hantuchova is currently in the finals, Venus Williams has earned herself a spot in the championships at No.7 It's the first time since 2002 that both Williams sisters were appearing together in the event.

Daniela Hantuchová beat Patty Schnyder for the title in Linz which means that she will knock Sharapova off the No.8 spot to qualify for the 2007 WTA Tour Championships based on more events played this year, 12 for Sharapova compared to 26 for Hantuchova as well as a slight edge in points.

However, in a surprising turn of events, Venus Williams withdrew from the championships in Madrid. This means that No.9 Sharapova was granted the final spot.

;2003 * Women's Tennis Association (WTA) Newcomer of the Year 2004 * WTA Player of the Year * WTA Most Improved Player of the Year * WTA Player Service ;2005 * ESPY Best Female Tennis Player * Named the country's best female player for the year by Russia's tennis federation * Master of Sports of Russia * Prix de Citron Roland Garros ;2006 * Named the country's best female player for the year by Russia's tennis federation ;2007 * ESPY Best Female Tennis Player * ESPY Best International Female Athlete

*Prince Sports, Inc. - Sharapova has committed to a "lifetime" of sponsoring the only tennis racket brand she's used as a pro. The endorsement deal will last until the end of her playing career and beyond. *Honda - Following her Wimbledon victory in 2004, Sharapova signed a one-year deal with the automobile manufacturer, but the deal was only valid in Japan. *Land Rover - In April 2006, Sharapova signed a three-year deal to endorse their vehicles. One source with knowledge of the deal said it was worth approximately U.S. $2 million per year. Sharapova gets a free Land Rover Range Rover Sport in Florida and a chauffeured Land Rover Discovery wherever she wants. *Motorola - a fee, plus a mobile phone and all her mobile phone bills paid, plus a share of the income of downloads from HelloMoto/Maria. She was criticized at the U.S. Open by some members of the American press for holding a RAZR to her ear at roughly the same time her father was seen talking on a similar phone, as this may have violated the United States Tennis Association's no sideline-coaching rule. *Gatorade - energy drink *Tropicana - orange juice *TAG Heuer - In December 2004, she signed a deal with Swiss sports watch TAG Heuer to become their latest "sport and glamour" ambassador. She is joined by other members of the "Dream Team" of brand ambassadors at TAG Heuer which include, Jeff Gordon, Sarah Fisher, Tiger Woods, Uma Thurman and Brad Pitt. *Nike Inc. - Sharapova has been known to wear somewhat eccentric or revealing outfits from Nike on court, best exemplified by a Breakfast at Tiffany's-inspired dress at the 2006 U.S. Open, which many admired for its use of sequins and futuristic neckline. She also has been featured in several Nike marketing campaigns, including one advertisement in 2006 that has her walking and riding through the streets of New York City and Arthur Ashe Stadium while everyone around her sings "I Feel Pretty" until she returns a serve with her trademark loud grunt. *Canon Inc. - Sharapova promotes both their office and camera products.

Sharapova's endorsements have earned her considerably more than she has won in tournament play. In June 2005, Forbes magazine listed her as the highest-paid female athlete in the world, with annual earnings of U.S. $18 million. (CBS, the American television network, reported in August 2006 that the figure is over U.S. $20 million.) In total, she earns over UK£13.4 million per year, over 90 percent of which comes from endorsements. When asked about her income, she said, "It's never enough. Bring on the money. There's no limit to how much you can make." In a later interview, she said, "You know, one of the greatest things about being an athlete and, you know, making money is realising that you can help, you know, help the world, and especially children, who I absolutely love working with."

Sharapova is visible in and outside of the court for her looks. Sharapova posed in a six-page bikini photoshoot spread in the 2006 issue of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, annual magazine that debuted on Valentine's Day, along with 25 scantily-clad supermodels. Sharapova joined the ranks of other athletes who have previously appeared in the publication. In April 2005, Sharapova was listed by People Magazine as among the 50 most beautiful celebrities in the world.

In 2006, Maxim magazine named Sharapova the hottest athlete in the world for the fourth consecutive year.

In a poll run by Britain's FHM magazine, Sharapova was voted the seventh most eligible bachelorette. Voting took into consideration both "wealth and looks."

Sharapova's first racquet (before she entered the professional circuit) was one given to her by a family friend.

Sharapova used the Prince Tour Diablo for part of 2003 and then used several different Prince racquets until the U.S. Open. She gave the racquet she used in the 2004 Wimbledon final to Regis Philbin when taping Live with Regis and Kelly. Sharapova began using the Prince Shark MP at that tournament and had a major part in the production of the Shark racquet. She then switched to the Prince O3 White racquet in January 2006, and this is currently the racquet that Sharapova uses. She endorses Nike accessories, apparel, and footwear.

On February 14, 2007, Sharapova was appointed a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and donated US$100,000 to UNDP Chernobyl-recovery projects.

* 'I am not the next anyone, I'm the first Maria Sharapova.' * Announcer: And I'm sure you have a few words to say (after presenting the 2007 Australian Open runner-up trophy to her) **Maria Sharapova: A few more than the games I won today. * 'You mean my speech was better than my game today?' (at the press conference after losing the Australian Open's final) * 'I look forward to playing her many more times - and winning a few, I hope.' (after a defeat by Serena Williams in the 2007 Australian Open Final) * 'I believe, at the end of the day, personally, my life is not about a banana.' (when asked at the press conference after the 2006 U.S. open final about her father's illegal signaling and feeding her during the match). * (After Sharapova won her second round at the 2007 French Open) **Reporter: So do you feel when you get back on court after not hitting balls, do you actually feel stronger and faster as a result? ** Maria Sharapova: No, I feel terrible. I feel like a cow on ice. Especially on clay * 'I’ve been playing against older and stronger competition my whole life. It has made me a better tennis player and able to play against this kind of level despite their strength and experience.' * 'When I was working my way to the top of tennis, I didn't say I was number two, I said I wanted to be number one.' * 'I am both an athlete and a businesswoman.' * 'A great tennis career is something that a 15-year-old normally doesn’t have. I hope my example helps other teens believe they can accomplish things they never thought possible.' *She told Sports Illustrated: "People seem to forget that Anna Kournikova isn't in the picture anymore. It's Maria-time now." '

<table width="53%"> <tr> <td valign="top" width="33%" align="left">

<td valign="top" width="33%" align="left"> <table class="wikitable"> <tr bgcolor="#EEEEEE"> <td>Titles by Surface</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Hard (12)</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Grass (3)</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Clay (0)</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Carpet (1)</td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table>

To prevent confusion and double counting, information in this table is updated only once a tournament when the player's participation in the tournament has concluded. This table is current through the U.S. Open, which ended for Sharapova on September 1,2007.

A = did not participate in the tournament

SR = the ratio of the number of singles tournaments won to the number of those tournaments played

¹If ITF women's circuit (Hardcourt: 22-4; Clay: 9-1) participation is included, then her overall win-loss record stands at 269-65.

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*List of famous tall women *List of Grand Slam Women's Singles champions

*Maria Sharapova Official Site * * *Sharapova's record versus other players *Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue: Maria Sharapova *Maria SharapovaMyspace