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| Maria Sharapova |
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"I've always just wanted to be me and people can say whatever they want to say. I think I pretty much shut everyone up after I won at Tokyo."
-Maria Sharapova
| Date of Birth: April 19, 1987. |
| Birthplace: Siberian region of Russia. |
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| Stop me if you've heard this one... She may only be a teenager, but Sharapova's very mature for her age. She has an animated personality that makes her a joy to watch on the tennis court. Of course, the fact that she happens to look like she could moonlight as a runway model doesn't hurt. |
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| A brilliant tennis player with a deadly backhand, Maria Sharapova was the youngest titlist on the WTA Tour in 2003 with two championships under her belt. Although she has since curbed her enthusiasm somewhat, she used to be called the "Siberian Siren" because of her extremely loud grunting whenever she hit the ball. |
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Maria Sharapova was born on April 19, 1987 in Nyagan, a town in the Siberian region of Russia. In 1989, the family moved to the Black Sea resort town of Sochi.
When she was 4 years old, a chance encounter changed her life. She met with the father of tennis champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov, and the man gave her a racket. From that moment, she started hitting tennis balls. The game soon became a passion for her.
Two years later, she was performing at a tennis clinic when another tennis champion changed her life. Martina Navratilova was in the building and she was flabbergasted by the talent of the 6-year-old. She went to her father, Yuri, and recommended that he take his daughter to the world-famous Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Florida.
Soon after, this same advice was repeated by the head coach of the Russian Federation. Everyone agreed it was the best thing to do in light of Maria's enormous talent. When she was only 7, Yuri took his daughter to the U.S. without knowing a word of English and with less than $1,000 in his pocket.
IMG, the sports management company, agreed to sponsor Maria and put up the $35,000 US per year it costs to stay at the Bollettieri Academy. Not knowing any English either, she was very shy and introverted. |
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© Gary Gershoff
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