Maria Sharapova

Born on 19th April 1987, Maria Yuryevna Sharapova also known as Maria Sharapova is a Russian Tennis player. Maria has been ranked as world's No. 1 by WTA. She is the only Russian women to have a career in Grand Slam and has won it 5 times. She has also won Silver in Olympic in 2012. At the age of 14, she won Wimbledon. On 22nd August 2005, she become world No. 1. She has done many modelling assignments and advertisements for Nike, Canon and many more. She was named as '100 Greatest of All Time' by Tennis Channel. She has also earned the title of highest paid female athlete by Forbes. She was born to Yuri and Yelena in Nyagan, Russia. Later, they moved to Sochi in Russia, where they met Aleksandr's son Yevgeny who had become the world no. 1 in 1989.

In 1991, Maria received a tennis racquet from Aleksandr and after that she began her Tennis practice in a nearby park with her father. Yuri Yutkin was Maria's first tennis coach. At the age of 9 she won an scholarship and got training at Nick Bollettieri. She won the Eddie Herr International Junior Tennis Championship when she was just 13 years old. In 2001, she made her professional debut. She has once failed a drug test in 2016 for which she was suspended for 15 months. “Unstoppable: My Life So Far” is the autobiography of Maria published in 2017 by Sarah Crichton Books. She got recognition by winning Wimbledon in 2004. In 2004, she also won the title of WTA. She was slowed down by her muscle problem in year 2007 & 2008.

In October 2008, she went a shoulder surgery. By the end of 2009, she was again in top 20. She also became the World’s No. 1. She has launched Sugarpova; a candy line with Jeff Rubin. Some amount of the sales is donated to a charity run by Maria. She had been in relationship with Sasha Vujacic and even got engaged but soon called off their relationship in 2010. After that she had dated Grigor Dimitrov and Alexander Gilkes. Both of which were ended soon. She has won awards like Russian Cup Newcomer of the Year, WTA Fan Favorite Singles Player. She has won many WTA awards like Humanitarian of the Year, Most Fashionable Player (On Court), Most Fashionable Player (Off Court), Most Dramatic Expression. The list of awards also includes Russian Cup Female Tennis Player of the Year and many more.