Photos Gallery: Hot Maria Sharapova Latest Photos

Maria Yuryevna Sharapova (Russian Мария Юрьевна Шарапова, IPA: [mɐˈrʲijə ˈjurʲjɪvnə ʂɐˈrapəvə] born April 19, 1987) is a Russian professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. A US-resident since 1994, Sharapova has won 23 WTA singles titles, including three Grand Slam singles titles at the 2004 Wimbledon, 2006 US Open and 2008 Australian Open. She has also won the year-end invitational WTA Tour Championships in 2004.

The Women's Tennis Association (WTA) has ranked her World No. 1 in singles on four separate occasions. She became the World No. 1 for the first time on Aug 22, 2005 and last regained this ranking for the fourth time on May 19, 2008. She is currently ranked World No. 6. Maria has been in 5 Grand Slam finals. Her Grand Slam final record is 3-2.

Sharapova made her professional breakthrough in 2004 when, at age 17, she upset two-time defending champion and top seed Serena Williams in the 2004 Wimbledon final for her first Grand Slam singles title. She entered the top ten of the WTA Rankings with this win. Despite not winning a major in 2005, Sharapova briefly held the number one ranking, and reached three Grand Slam semifinals, losing to the eventual champion each time. She won her second major at the 2006 US Open defeating then-World No. 1 Amélie Mauresmo in the semifinals and World No. 2 Justine Henin in the final.

Sharapova's 2007 season was plagued with a chronic shoulder injury, and saw her ranking fall out of the top 5 for the first time in two years. She ultimately won her third Grand Slam at the 2008 Australian Open, defeating Henin in the quarterfinals and Ana Ivanović in the final. After reclaiming the number one ranking in May 2008, Sharapova's shoulder problems re-surfaced, ultimately requiring surgery in October and forcing her out of the game for nearly ten months. Sharapova returned in May 2009 and was ranked No. 126 in the world due to her extensive lay-off. Since her comeback, Sharapova has won 4 singles titles (bringing her career total to 23) and improved her ranking to within the top.

Sharapova was born in 1987 to Yury and Yelena, ethnic Belarusians, in the town of Nyagan' in Siberia, Russia. Her parents moved from Gomel, Belarus after the Chernobyl nuclear accident in 1986 affected the region. When Sharapova was two, the family moved to Sochi where her father befriended Aleksandr Kafelnikov, whose son Yevgeny would go on to win two Grand Slam singles titles and became Russia's first ever World No. 1 tennis player. Aleksandr gave Sharapova her first tennis racket at the age of four, whereupon she began practicing regularly with her father in a local park. She took her first tennis lessons with veteran Russian coach Yuri Yutkin, who was instantly impressed when he first saw her play, noting her "exceptional hand-eye co-ordination."

At the age of seven, Sharapova attended a tennis clinic in Moscow run by Martina Navrátilová, who recommended professional training at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Florida, which had previously trained players such as Andre Agassi, Monica Seles and Anna Kournikova. With money tight, Yuri was forced to borrow the sum that would allow him and his daughter, neither of whom could speak English, to travel to America, which they finally did in 1994. Visa restrictions prevented Sharapova's mother from joining them for two years. Arriving in Florida with savings of USD 700, Sharapova's father took various low-paying jobs, including dish-washing, to fund her lessons until she was old enough to be admitted to the academy. In 1995, she was signed by IMG, who agreed to pay the annual tuition fee of $35,000 for Sharapova to stay at the academy, allowing her to finally enroll at the age of 9.

Sharapova first gained attention on the tennis scene in November 2000 when she won the Eddie Herr International Junior Tennis Championships in the girls' 16 division at the age of just 13. She was then given a special award, the Rising Star Award, which is awarded only to players of exceptional promise. She made her professional debut in 2001, and played her first WTA tournament at the Pacific Life Open in 2002, winning a match before losing to Monica Seles. Due to restrictions on how many professional events she could play, Sharapova went to hone her game in junior tournaments, where she reached the finals of the Australian Open and Wimbledon in 2002. She was the youngest girl ever to reach the final of the Australian Open junior championship at 14 years and 9 months

Sharapova was seeded fifth at the Australian Open, but was not considered a favorite. Nevertheless, she defeated former World No. 1 Lindsay Davenport in the second round, and then World No. 1 Henin in the quarterfinals, ending the latter's 32-match winning streak. She proceeded to the finals by defeating Jelena Janković in the semifinals, where she defeated Ana Ivanović to win her third Grand Slam title,having not dropped a set all tournament.

Sharapova did not attempt to defend her Australian Open title as she continued to recover from surgery. She returned to the sport in March, in the doubles tournament at the BNP Paribas Open, but she and partner Elena Vesnina lost in the first round. After this, Sharapova withdrew from further singles tournaments, resulting in her standing in the world rankings being severely affected. She dropped out of the top 100 for the first time in six years in May, the nadir being World No. 126.

Sharapova began her 2010 season with an exhibition match in Hua Hin, Thailand against Venus Williams and won 6–4, 6–3. Sharapova then played another exhibition, the team event Hong Kong Tennis Classic where she represented and was Captain of Team Russia. She won her first singles match against Zheng Jie 6–7(5), 6–4, 6–2 and then teamed up with Yevgeny Kafelnikov to win the doubles match 6–4, 7–5 against Ayumi Morita and Paradorn Srichaphan of Team Asia Pacific. Sharapova then defeated World No. 4 Caroline Wozniacki 7–5, 6–3 in the final against Team Europe.

After playing two exhibition tournaments in Asia, Sharapova officially began her season at the Australian Open, where she was upset in her first round match that lasted more than three hours, losing 6–7(4), 6–3, 4–6 to Maria Kirilenko who reached the quarterfinals of the tournament. The loss meant that for the first time since 2003, Sharapova had lost her opening match at a Grand Slam event.

It was announced that Sharapova would bring in Thomas Hogstedt as a coach for the 2011 season, joining Michael Joyce. On December 5, Maria played an exhibition match against World No. 2 Vera Zvonareva in Monterrey, Mexico. She went on to win that match 6–1, 7–5.

Sharapova confirmed that her first tournament of the year would be at the 2011 ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand, held from January 4 to 9. She also announced that she would be leading the Russia Fed Cup team against France in February in their first-round tie.

In her first ever official Australian Open warm-up tournament at the 2011 ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand, she was seeded 1st. Sharapova was defeated in the third round by the Hungarian veteran and eventual champion Gréta Arn, 2–6, 5–7. After the ASB Classic Sharapova decided to take a hiatus from Joyce's coaching, despite having worked together for a number of years including during her successful years where she became a multiple grand slam champion.

Sharapova participated in the first grand slam of the season at the Australian Open, where she was the 14th seeded player. She made it to the fourth round, where she was defeated by Andrea Petkovic 2–6, 3–6.
Sharapova's next appearance would be at the 2011 Fed Cup tie against France, which she lost to Virginie Razzano 3–6, 4–6.

harapova comitted to the 2011 AEGON Classic in Birmingham, UK to open up her grass season campaign, where she would have been seeded 1st. However, after her loss at the 2011 Roland Garros, she withdrew from the AEGON Classic, citing illness.

Sharapova then participated at the 2011 Wimbledon Championships where she was seeded 5th. She had not dropped a set in the tournament entering the final, where she lost to Petra Kvitová in straight sets, 3–6, 4–6.

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