The Rise Of Maria Sharapova
Author: Jonathon Hardcastle

Although she is no longer the number one tennis player in the
world, Maria Sharapova is still absolutely the most famous and
most watched female tennis superstar as well as the world's
highest paid female athlete.

Her parents were originally from Gomel, Belarus but they moved
to the infamous Siberia in Russia in 1986 after the Chernobyl
nuclear catastrophe. Sharapova herself was born in Nyagan,
Russia on April 19, 1987. She now resides in the United States
but has retained her Russian citizenship.

After moving with her family to the Black Sea Resort at the
town of Sochi at age three, she started playing tennis later at
the age of four. Her first racket came from the father of tennis
star Yevgeny Kafelnikov, who hails from Sochi. By the time she
was six, she showed enough talent on the court to catch the eye
of superstar Martina Navratilova, who then spoke to Sharapova's
parents, urging them to send the young girl to the United
States for professional tennis instruction.

The parents were not rich people yet they took a gamble and
followed Navratilova's advice. Accompanied by her father,
Sharapova went to Florida and enrolled at the Nick Bollettieri
Tennis Academy, the same tennis school that produced former
world number ones such as Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi. Due to
visa problems, the father and daughter were separated from
Sharapova's mother for two years.

In the beginning, Sharapova's father worked at several jobs to
pay for her tennis lessons. But things would get better soon
enough. The giant sports talent agency, International
Management Group, soon granted Sharapova a full scholarship to
ease the financial burdens on her father.

In 2004, Sharapova defeated two-time Wimbledon champion Serena
Williams in straight sets (6-1, 6-4) in the finals to become
the third youngest winner of the prestigious Wimbledon women's
singles event, following the footsteps of Lottie Dod and
Martina Hingis. She also became the first Russian to win the
event. On her way to the finals, Sharapova pulled off stunning
three-set victories against Ai Sugiyama (5-7, 7-5, 6-1) and
Lindsay Davenport (2-6, 7-6, 6-1).

On September 12, 2005, Sharapova rose in the rankings and was
named the number one tennis player in the world. She was only
19 years old.


About The Author: Jonathon Hardcastle writes articles for
http://thetennisstop.net/ - In addition, Jonathon also writes
articles for http://igolfcentral.net/ and
http://erecreationstation.com/