subject: Maria Sharapova : One Of The Succesful Tennis Women [print this page] Maria Sharapova Iourievna , Transcript International: Marija Jurjevna Arapova), born April 19, 1987 at Niagan in Siberia (Russia) is a Russian professional tennis player. His parents are originally from Gomel, Belarus, but fled Russia in 1986 after the Chernobyl disaster.
At the age of 4 years, a friend of his father (the father of Yevgeny Kafelnikov), offers him his first racket. She was later introduced to the sport by Yuri Ioudkine . Two years later, she went to an exhibition given by Martina Navratilova in Moscow and has the opportunity to exchange some bullets with it. The grand champion, who sees great potential in Maria, advised his father to send him to Florida in the famous training camp of Nick Bollettieri . Finally she left the U.S. in 1995 and is supported by Robert Lansdorp . Maria Sharapova is ambidextrous and played left hand until the age of 11 years .
She turned professional in 2001 when she was just 14 years old. After two years of apprenticeship, Maria takes off in 2003 by winning his first two tournaments (Tokyo and Quebec) at only 16 years. The following year, she confirmed the hopes placed in it by winning the tournament again in Tokyo, Seoul and then those of Birmingham. Maria takes the 13th place worldwide in late May 2004.
But his career took a different turn in early July 2004. At 17 and just under two months, she became the third youngest player in history, after Martina Hingis (16 years and 9 months in 1997) and Lottie Dod (15 years and 9 months in 1887), and the first Russian to win the famous Wimbledon . Maria suddenly takes on the status of a superstar of women's sports. Advertising contracts will follow but it does not lose its main objective: tennis.
On 22 August 2005, she became the first Russian women's tennis history to reach the top spot in world rankings.
Taking advantage of his immense fame , Maria Sharapova sign advertising contracts with many major brands and became one of the highest paid sports on the planet . It is, among other things, the face of Nike Prince Land Rover Sony Ericsson Canon , Colgate-Palmolive , PepsiCo of Parlux Fragrances or by TAG Heuer . She has previously collaborated with Motorola . It also takes advantage of his good looks to pose in various magazines.
Maria Sharapova has been involved in many charitable works . She has founded an association bearing his name that aims to discover tennis to children in disadvantaged areas. She is also Goodwill Ambassador of the United Nations Program for Development since February 2007 .
Maria Sharapova develops an attacking game back of the court which is not unlike that of Lindsay Davenport .It has a typical profile of the player of the 2000s: athletic, powerful and aggressive. The intensity of its attacks at all times allows him to outflank his opponent suddenly, both in reverse forehand. Follower of a high-risk tennis, she seeks the winning move quickly and never hesitated to finish points at the net. Never wait, it behaves in roller and has a habit of suffocating his rival, trying to install his game Most of his hits are played in-depth and very strained though it also control short shots Crusaders .
As a symbol of her perpetual desire to direct trade, she punctuates each of its strikes screeching , like Monica Seles at the time. It turns out to be a formidable waitress when not hampered by shoulder injuries, which particularly worries physical dented results in its career.
Maria Sharapova is brittle when it comes to defending. His modest speed and approximations of his footwork makes it a very effective player on clay surface on which she has won only one tournament and she does not appreciate .
It is not a natural volleyball player and performs most of its flights as ground strokes to run away from the net with topspin . Accordingly, it rarely rises to fly apart when it comes to completing a trade already well underway in its favor . His forehand, the technique is sometimes criticized , is the source of unforced errors when not at his peak form.
Maria Sharapova dispute in 2003 his first Grand Slam in Melbourne and Paris, where she is beaten every time in the first round after qualifying eradicated. She gleaned in passing the last ITF title of her career at Sea Island.
It impresses on grass in Birmingham where she defeated many prominent players like Nathalie Dechy and Elena Dementieva, while world number 15. However, it must yield in the semi-final against Shinobu Asagoe. Now in the top 100, Maria enters directly into the great array of Wimbledon and became known to the general public by reaching the last sixteen in just 16 years and 2 months. It eliminates the passage two seeded Elena Bovina and Jelena Dokic, ranked 12th in the WTA rankings. Russia loses in three sets to her compatriot Svetlana Kuznetsova.
The year 2003 is also one of its first titles. First, in his Japanese garden in Tokyo (cons AnikaKapros), then in Quebec City (opposite Milagros Sequera). She also won two doubles titles won in the company of Thailand's Tamarine Tanasugarn. She is the youngest player to win a trophy on the WTA circuit in 2003 .At the end of the year, the Siberian peak at the 32nd largest in the world with two WTA titles to her credit, at 16 years and 7 months and was voted "Rookie of the Year" by the WTA.
