Maria Yuryevna Sharapova (Russian: Мари́я Ю́рьевна Шара́пова; born April 19, 1987) is a Russian professional tennis player. Her parents are originally from Gomel, Belarus, but moved to Russia in 1986 in the aftermath of the Chernobyl nuclear accident. Sharapova was born in Nyagan, Siberia, the following year.

At the age of three, Sharapova moved with her family to the resort town of 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 women's champion in the 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.

Sharapova is regarded by many as possessing a natural beauty and figure and has done some 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 Bollettieri student and model. However, Sharapova, Bollettieri, and Kournikova all reject the comparison.

Sharapova studies via correspondence on the internet with the Keystone High School home schooling program and has a liking for sociology.

Contents

1 Titles (9) 1.1 Singles (9) 1.2 Performance Timeline 2 External links

Titles (9)

Legend (Singles)

Grand Slam (1)

WTA Championships (1)

Tier I Event (1)

WTA Tour (6)

Singles (9)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score
1.	2003-09-29	Tokyo	Hard	Aniko Kapros (Hungary)	2-6 6-2 7-6
2.	2003-10-27	Quebec City	Hard	Milagros Sequera (Venezuela)	6-2 RET
3.	2004-06-07	Birmingham	Grass	Tatiana Golovin (France)	4-6 6-2 6-1
4.	2004-06-21	Wimbledon	Grass	Serena Williams (USA)	6-1 6-4
5.	2004-09-27	Seoul	Hard	Marta Domachowska (Poland)	6-1 6-1
6.	2004-10-04	Tokyo	Hard	Mashona Washington (USA)	6-0 6-1
7.	2004-11-08	WTA Tour Championships (L.A.)	Hard	Serena Williams (USA)	4-6 6-2 6-4
8.	2005-02-06	Tokyo	Carpet	Lindsay Davenport (USA)	6-1 3-6 7-6
9.	2005-02-21	Doha	Hard	Alicia Molik (Australia)	4-6 6-1 6-4

Performance Timeline

Tournament	2005	2004	2003	2002	Career
Australian Open	SF	3r	1r	-	0
Roland Garros		QF	1r	-	0
Wimbledon		W	4r	-	1
US Open		3r	2r	-	0
WTA Tour Championships		W	-	-	1
Finals reached	3	6	2	0	11
Tournaments Won	2	5	2	0	9
Hardcourt Win-Loss	18-3	55-15	34-12	1-2	73-23
Carpet Win-Loss	4-0	1-1	0-0	0-0	5-1
Grass Win-Loss	0-0	12-0	9-2	0-0	21-2
Clay Win-Loss	0-0	8-3	5-2	0-0	13-5
Overall Win-Loss	22-3	55-15	34-12	1-2	112-31
Year End Ranking		4	32	186	N/A

External links

• Maria Sharapova fan site