Maria Sharapova

Maria Sharapova

Yuryev Maria Sharapova (Russian Мария Юрьевна Шарапова, IPA: [mɐr ʲ ʲ ijə jɪvnə ʂɐrapəvə JUR] was born April 19, 1987) is a Russian tennis player and former world number one resident in the United States since 1994, Sharapova won 23 WTA singles titles including three Grand Slam titles at Wimbledon in 2004, 2006 U.S. Open and Australian Open 2008. He also won the year-end WTA Tour Championships Invitational in 2004.

Museum Women Tennis Association (WTA) ranked World No. 1 Maria Sharapova in singles on four different occasions. She became World No. 1 for the first time August 22, 2005, and finally found this ranking for the fourth time May 19, 2008. She is currently ranked World No. 5 It was in five Grand Slam finals. Her Grand Slam final record is 3-2.

Sharapova made her breakthrough work in 2004 when, at age 17, turned two-time defending champion and top seed Serena Williams in the Wimbledon final in 2004 for his first singles title of the Grand Slam. She entered the top ten of the WTA rankings with the victory. Despite not winning a major in 2005, Sharapova was briefly ranked first, and reached three Grand Slam semifinals, losing to eventual champion each time. She won her second major of the U.S. Open in 2006 after defeating world No. 1 Amelie Mauresmo in the semifinals and No. 2 Justine Henin in the final world. Sharapova 2007 season has been battling a chronic shoulder injury and saw his ranking fall off the top 5 for the first time in two years. They finally won his third Grand Slam in Australia Open 2008, defeating Henin in the quarterfinals and Ana Ivanovic in the final.

After recovery of the classification of a number in May 2008, Sharapova problems reappeared shoulder ultimately required surgery in October and forced to leave the game for almost ten months. Sharapova back in May 2009 and was ranked No. 126 in the world because of its extensive layoff. Since his return, Sharapova has won four individual titles (bringing his total to 23) and improve its position in the top 5.

Sharapova public profile beyond the courts, and has appeared in a number of modeling assignments, including his appearance in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition. He has appeared in numerous commercials such as Nike, Canon and Principe, and is the face of several fashion houses, especially Cole Haan. Sharapova was the most searched athletes on Yahoo in 2005 and 2008. Since February 2007, was one of the United Nations Goodwill Ambassador for Development, in particular for Chernobyl recovery and development program.