2. Early life
Maria was born on April 19,1987 in Nyagan, Soviet Union. Her parents, Yuri and Elena,
are from Gomel, Belarus. When Sharapova was two, the family moved to Sochi.
Aleksandr Kafelnikov gave Sharapova her first tennis racquet at the age of four,
whereupon she began practicing regularly with her father at a local park. She took her
first tennis lessons with veteran Russian coach Yuri Yutkin , who was instantly
impressed when he saw her play.
At the age of six, Sharapova attended a tennis clinic in Moscow run by Martina
Navratilova, who recommended professional training at the Nick Bollettiery
Tennis Academy in Florida. They went to USA in 1995.
3. Tennis career
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In November 2000 Maria won the Eddie Herr International Junior Tennis
Championships in the girls' 16 division at the age of just 13.
In July 2004 Maria won Wimbledon.
In 2006 Sharapova won titles in back-to-back weeks at the Zurich Open
and the Generali Ladies Linz.
In 2008 Maria won the Australian Open championship.
In 2012 she won the French Open.
4. Awards
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Medal of the Order For Merit to the Fatherland 2nd Class (April 28,
2012) – for her philanthropic activity.
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Medal of the Order For Merit to the Fatherland 1 st Class (August
13, 2012) – for her outstanding contribution to the development of
physical cultures and sports at the XXX Olympic Games in 2012 in
London (Great Britain)
5. Foundation
In 2007, Maria became a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP) and donated $100,000 to Chernobyl-related projects.
( Sharapova with children in Gomel,
an area affected by the Chernobyl nuclear disaster
in 1986).
