MARIA SHARAPOVA: WORLD' FEMALE TENNIS PLAYER

Hey friends. It’s widely know the close relationship between female tennis and the world of fashion. Everything started with Anna Kournikova. She was the forerunner of the new breed of young beautiful tennis players -most of them coming from Eastern Europe- that, when out of the court, love fashion and modeling. Anna Kournikova never won a WTA Tournament but became a symbol and a fashion icon. Since then many female players have followed her steps. Perhaps her most advanced pupil is her fellow countrywoman the gourgeous and beautiful Russian babe Maria Sharapova. Maria Sharapova is not only one of the beautiful and most beautiful athletes in the world but also plays tennis beautifully.

Maria Yuryevna Sharapova was born in 1987 to Yuri and Yelena in the town of Nyagan in Siberia, Russia. Previously her parents had lived in Gomel, Belarus, but were compelled to move after the Chernobyl nuclear accident in 1986. At the age of two her family moved to Sochi. There, Sharapova‘s father befriended Yevgeny’s Kafelnikov father, Aleksandre, who gave Sharapova her first tennis racket at the age of four. At the age of six, Sharapova attended a tennis clinic run by Martina Navratilova during the Kremlim Cup in Moscow. Martina noted Sharapova was talented but required professional training, recommending the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Florida. Sharapova and her father, neither of whom could speak English, moved to Florida in 1994 with only 700$ in their pockets. Several days after their arrival father and daughter showed up at the IMG's Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Bradenton, Florida and in December 1995 Maria received a scholarship to the Academy and became a full-time student. Sharapova turned professional in 2001, although she played a total of just two WTA tournaments in 2001 and 2002 plus six challenger events. She became the youngest girl to reach the final at the junior Australian Open in 2002, and repeated this feat at Wimbledon later in the same year.

Shortly after Wimbledon 2008 a magnetic resonance imaging scan revealed Maria Sharapova had been suffering from a torn rotator cuff since April, and consequently, she announced she was to take a break of two to three months, ruling her out of both the Beijing Olympics and the US Open. What a pity for her numerous supporters!! Throughout her career Maria has won 19 singles and 3 doubles titles. This is the list of Maria Sharapova's titles.

2003:
- Japan Open Tennis Championships, Tokyo (singles and doubles)
- Bell Challenge, Quebec City, Canada
- Fortis Championships, Luxembourg, Luxembourg (doubles)

2004:
- DFS Classic, Birmingham, United Kingdom (singles and doubles)
- Wimbledon, London
- Hansol Korea Open Tennis Championships, Seoul
- Japan Open Tennis Championships, Tokyo
- WTA Championships, Los Angeles

2005:
- Toray Pan Pacific Open, Tokyo
- Qatar Total Open, Doha
- DFS Classic, Birmingham, United Kingdom

2006:
- Pacific Life Open, Indian Wells, California, U.S.
- Acura Classic, San Diego, California, U.S.
- US Open, New York City
- Zürich Open, Zürich, Switzerland
- Generali Ladies Linz, Linz, Austria

2007:
- Acura Classic, San Diego, California, U.S.

2008:
- Australian Open, Melbourne
- Qatar Total Open, Doha
- Bausch & Lomb Championships, Amelia Island, Florida, U.S.

Sharapova is visible in and outside of the court for her looks. She might well work as a model and, in fact, she has already done some modeling. She is 187 centimeters high and her measurements are (US) 32.5-24-34 ; (EU) 82-61-86.5. Sharapova posed in a six-page bikini photoshoot spread in the 2006 issue of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. In April 2005, Sharapova was listed by People Magazine as among the 50 most beautiful celebrities in the World and in 2006, Maxim magazine named Sharapova the athlete in the world for the fourth consecutive year. She’s been signed by many companies to advertise their products. Amongst them we can quote the tennis racket brand Prince, car makers Honda and Land Rover, Motorola, Gatorade, Tropicana, Swiss sports match maker TAG Heder, Cannon Inc and the sportsclothing manufacturer giant Nike. I'll finish this post leaving a slideshow of the best Maria Sharapova's pictures and a video of Maria's photo shooting for Sports Illustrated. Best regards.