Russian Tennis Star Maria Sharapova

Maria Yuryevna Sharapova born April 19, 1987 is a Russian professional tennis player. A former World No. 1, she was on March 23, 2009, ranked World No. 30 by the Women's Tennis Association. Sharapova has won three Grand Slam singles titles. In 2004, at the age of 17, she won Wimbledon, defeating Serena Williams in the final. She has since won the 2006 US Open, defeating Justine Henin in the final, and the 2008 Australian Open, defeating Ana Ivanović in the final.

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Sharapova has represented Russia in Fed Cup, although her appearances have been controversial. She has been featured in a number of modeling assignments, including a feature in Sports Illustrated. Sharapova was the most searched-for athlete on Yahoo! in both 2005 and 2008. In July 2008, as a result of her success both on and off court, she was the world's highest-paid female athlete.

As of October 2008, she is coached by her father, Yuri Sharapov, and former player Michael Joyce.

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Sharapova is a power baseliner, with power, depth, and angles on her forehand and backhand. Instead of using a traditional volley or overhead smash, she often prefers to hit a powerful "swinging" volley when approaching the net or attacking lobs. Sharapova is thought to have good speed around the court, especially considering her height. At the beginning of 2008, some observers noted that Sharapova had developed her game, showing improved movement and footwork and the addition of a drop shot and sliced backhand to her repertoire of shots.

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Arguably, the combination of her tennis success and physical beauty have enabled her to secure commercial endorsements that greatly exceed in value her tournament winnings. In April 2005, People named her one of the 50 most beautiful celebrities in the world. In 2006, Maxim ranked Sharapova the hottest athlete in the world for the fourth consecutive year. She posed in a six-page bikini photoshoot spread in the 2006 Valentine's Day issue of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, alongside 25 scantily-clad supermodels. In the same year, preceding the official debut of the Land Rover Freelander LR2 Maria appeared at a private presentation at the Kensington Roof Gardens held for journalists.

In a poll run by Britain's FHM magazine, she was voted the seventh most eligible bachelorette, based on both "wealth and looks."

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Sharapova used the Prince Tour Diablo for part of 2003 and then used several different Prince racquets until the US 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 OS at that tournament and had a major part in the production of the Shark racquet.[citation needed] She then switched to the Prince O3 White racquet in January 2006. Because of Sharapova's various shoulder injuries, she switched to the Prince O3 Speedport Black Longbody in July 2008.

2003

* Women's Tennis Association (WTA) Newcomer of the Year

2004

* WTA Player of the Year
* WTA Most Improved Player of the Year

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

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2006

* Named the country's best female player for the year by Russia's tennis federation
* Whirlpool 6th Sense Player of the Year

2007

* ESPY Best Female Tennis Player
* ESPY Best International Female Athlete
* ESPN Hottest Female Athlete

2008
* Named the January 2008 female Athlete of the Month by the United States Sports Academy for her performance at the Australian Open
* ESPY Best Female Tennis Player