Sharapova << shah rah POH vuh, >> Maria (1987-…), was a popular Russian tennis star. She became the 10th woman to win all four grand slam tennis championships in women’s tennis. Sharapova won the Wimbledon title in 2004, the US Open in 2006, the Australian Open in 2008, and the French Open in 2012. She also won the French Open in 2014. Sharapova reached the ranking of number-one women’s player in the world several times in the first decade of the 2000’s.
In addition to her success in tennis, Sharapova became an international celebrity while she was still a teenager. She earned much more in commercial endorsements than in tennis tournaments and was listed as the world’s highest paid female athlete.
Sharapova was born on April 19, 1987, in Nyagan, Russia. She began playing tennis at the age of 4. When Sharapova was 6, the Czech tennis star Martina Navratilova saw her playing in an exhibition tournament in Moscow. Navratilova recommended that the child attend the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Bradenton, Florida. Sharapova’s father enrolled her in the academy when she was 9. She turned professional on her 14th birthday and won her first tournament in 2002.
In 2016, the International Tennis Federation suspended Sharapova from competition for two years, after a blood test indicated she had used the banned drug meldonium. Sharapova appealed the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), which reduced the suspension to 15 months. Sharapova resumed playing in April 2017, but injuries hampered her performance. She wrote an autobiography, Unstoppable: My Life So Far (2017). Sharapova retired from tennis in 2020 with 645 career wins and 36 singles tournament victories.
