Maria Sharapova

Maria Sharapova is the most dazzling tennis player who has ever stepped on court. Maria Sharapova was born April 19, 1987 in Nyagan, a town in western Siberia, where Maria parents, Yuri and Yelena, had fled from Belarus a year previous to let alone fallout from Chernobyl. Still too close to the calamity site, her family left their home as refugees again when Maria was two-years-old. The Sharapova solid for a while in the Black Sea town of Sochi, known then as a recourse village and home of Russian light, Yevgeny Kafelnikov. Yuri had been a plan in Nyagan. But as the family bounced from on home to the next, he did everything he could just to keep them cool.

An only suckling, Maria Sharapova was heartened by her parents to try everything, from dancing and music to sports competitions. She discovered tennis after her fourth anniversary, when a family associate – Kafelnikov,s pastor gave her one of his son’s old Dunlop. The die was cast. Maria by a hair’s breadth ever let that cut-down, cracked, out of her hand from the trice she handpicked it up. Every day she hit against the side of the household.

By the time Maria Sharapova was six; local tennis coaches refreshed Yuri to take her to Moscow to be considered for the Russian Tennis Federation. There, she wowed RTF head trainer Yuri Udkin, who felt she was the best player he had ever seen.

But effects were not so down-to-earth in Russia, where the old upheaval Synonyms was varying. The Russian government had increased its tennis development series after the sport had gained Olympic reputation Synonyms in the premature Antonym 1980s. But even still sufficient funding was unavailable, Maria’s parents followed the recommendation of Martina Navratilova, who believed that the U.S. be the best place for the youngster to entertain her training. The Sharapova had met Navratilova during an show in Moscow. The star was pleased to bid her assistance.

Sharapova is an aggressive baseliner, with power, depth, and angles on her forehand and backhand. Instead of using a traditional volley or overhead smash, she often prefers to hit a powerful “swinging” volley when approaching the net or attacking lobs. Sharapova is thought to have good speed around the court, especially considering her height. At the beginning of 2008, some observers noted that Sharapova had developed her game, showing improved movement and footwork and the addition of a drop shot and sliced backhand to her repertoire of shots. Despite her powerful game, Sharapova’s greatest asset is considered to be her mental toughness and competitive spirit, with Nick Bollettieri stating that she is “tough as nails”. At the 2010 French Open, Hall-of-famer Martina Navratilova said of Sharapova, “with her, it’s not over until she’s shaking hands.” Sharapova is known for on-court “grunting”, which reached a recorded 101 decibels during a match at Wimbledon in 2005. Monica Seles suggested that grunting is involuntary and a part of tennis. When questioned by the media about her grunting, Sharapova urged the media to “just watch the match.”

2010

After playing two exhibition tournaments in Asia, Sharapova officially begun her season at the Australian Open, where she was upset in her first round by Maria Kirilenko. The loss meant that for the first time since 2003, Sharapova had lost her opening match at a Grand Slam event. Immediately bouncing back, she competed in the Cellular South Cup, winning her 21st career WTA title and first of the year.

At the BNP Paribas Open, Sharapova lost in the third round 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 Madrilena Madrid Open, Sharapova lost in the first round to Lucie Safarova. She continued her French Open preparation at the Internationaux de Strasbourg with her first title on red clay and 22nd overall title. Her brief clay season culminated with a third round loss to four-time champion Justine Henin at the French Open.

Sharapova’s next event was her first grass court event of the year, the AEGON Classic, starting June 7. She reached the third round defeating Bethanie Mattek-Sands 6-0, 6-3, after receiving a first round bye. She went on to reach the semifinals for the seventh year in a row after eliminating Alla Kudryavtseva and Sesil Karatantcheva in straight sets, where she defeated American qualifier Alison Riske in three sets 6-2, 4-6, 6-1. In the final, she was defeated by the Chinese top seed Na Li, 7-5, 6-1 in one hour and 19 minutes.

Sharapova is the 16th seed for Wimbledon and defeated lucky loser Anastasia Pivovarova 6-1, 6-0 in the first round. This was Maria’s most convincing grand slam match since the 2007 U.S. Open second round against Casey Dellacqua. In the second round she beat Ioana Raluca Olaru 6-1, 6-4 to advance to the third round, where she defeated Barbora Zahlavova-Strycov 7-5, 6-3. This is the first time Sharapova has reached the fourth round at Wimbledon since 2007 and next she will face the defending champion and rival Serena Williams.