Maria Yuryevna Sharapova (born April 19, 1987 in Nyagan, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union) is a former World No. 1 Russian professional tennis player. She has won 3 Grand Slam titles (2004 Wimbledon, 2006 US Open, and 2008 Australian Open). She was also runner-up at the 2007 Australian Open.
Sharapova was born in 1987 to Yuri 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.
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.
Sharapova's tennis success and appearance 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 a poll run by Britain's FHM magazine, she was voted the seventh most eligible bachelorette, based on both "wealth and looks."
Sharapova has often implied that she desires an early retirement. Following the retirement of 25-year-old Justine Henin, Sharapova said, "If I was 25 and I'd won so many Grand Slams, I'd quit too." In an interview after the 2008 Australian Open, she balked at the idea of playing for another ten years, saying that she hoped to have a "nice husband and a few kids" by then.
Sharapova helped promote the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. Sharapova is engaged to Slovenian born professional basketball player Sasha Vujacic, who plays for the New Jersey Nets. The two have been dating since 2009.
Sharapova has been featured in a considerable number of modeling assignments, including a feature in Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. She has been featured in lots of Ads, including for Nike, Prince and Canon and is the face of several fashion houses, most notably Cole Haan. Sharapova was the most searched-for athlete on Yahoo! in 2005 and 2008.
Since February 2007, she has been a United Nations Development Programme Goodwill Ambassador, concerned specifically with the Chernobyl Recovery and Development Programme.
In June 2011, she was named one of the "30 Legends of Women's Tennis: Past, Present and Future" by Time and in March 2012 was named one of the "100 Greatest of All Time" by Tennis Channel.
Maria Sharapova tennis glamour girl and most recognisable sportswoman back as world number one with French Open 2012 grand slam. Maria defated Italian Sara Errani with a 6-3 6-2. Sharapova becomes only the 10th woman to complete a career grand slam with the French Open 2012 victory.
