maria sharapova

Maria Sharapova was born in 1987 to Yury and Yelena, ethnic Belarusians, in the town of Nyagan' in Siberia, Russia.[citation needed] Her parents moved from Gomel, Belarus, after the Chernobyl nuclear accident in 1986 affected the region. When Sharapova was two, the family moved to Sochi, where her father befriended Aleksandr Kafelnikov, whose son Yevgeny would go on to win two Grand Slam singles titles and became Russia's first ever World No. 1 tennis player. Aleksandr gave Sharapova her first tennis racket at the age of four, whereupon she began practicing regularly with her father at a local park. With money tight, Yuri was forced to borrow the sum that would allow him and his daughter, neither of whom could speak English, to travel to America, which they finally did in 1994. Visa restrictions prevented Sharapova's mother from joining them for two years. Arriving in Florida with savings of US$700 Sharapova's father took various low-paying jobs, including dish-washing, to fund her lessons until she was old enough to be admitted to the academy. In 1995. Sharapova officially began her season at the Australian Open, where she was upset in her first round match that lasted more than three hours, losing 6–7(4), 6–3, 4–6 to Maria Kirilenko who reached the quarterfinals of the tournament. The loss meant that for the first time since 2003, Sharapova had lost her opening match at a Grand Slam event.
She then competed in the Cellular South Cup, where she reached the final and beat Sofia Arvidsson 6–2, 6–1 to win her 21st career WTA title and first of the year.
At the BNP Paribas Open, Sharapova lost in the third round 3–6, 6–2, 3–6 to Zheng Jie, aggravating a bruised bone on her right elbow in the process, which resulted in her eventual withdrawal from the Sony Ericsson Open, and the Family Circle Cup.
Returning at the 2010 Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open, Sharapova lost in the first round 4–6, 3–6 to Lucie Šafářová. She continued her French Open preparation at the Internationaux de Strasbourg as a wildcard. Sharapova advanced to the final where she beat Kristina Barrois 7–5, 6–1. This was her first title on red clay and 22nd overall title. Sharapova would bring in Thomas Hogstedt as a coach for the 2011 season, joining Michael Joyce. On December 5, Maria played an exhibition match against World No. 2 Vera Zvonareva in Monterrey, Mexico. She went on to win that match 6–1, 7–5.
Sharapova confirmed that her first tournament of the year would be at the 2011 ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand, held from January 4 to 9. She also announced that she would be leading the Russia Fed Cup team against France in February in their first-round tie.
In her first ever official Australian Open warm-up tournament at the 2011 ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand, she was seeded 1st. Sharapova was defeated in the third round by the Hungarian veteran and eventual champion Gréta Arn, 2–6, 5–7. After the ASB Classic Sharapova decided to take a hiatus from Joyce's coaching, despite having worked together for a number of years including during her successful years where she became a multiple grand slam champion.
Sharapova participated in the first grand slam of the season at the Australian Open, where she was the 14th seeded player. She made it to the fourth round, where she was unable to find consistency leading her loss to Andrea Petkovic 2–6, 3–6.

maria sharapova

maria sharapova

maria sharapova

maria sharapova

maria sharapova

maria sharapova

maria sharapova