Born April 19, 1987 is a Russian professional tennis player and the current World No. 1. At the end of 2006, she was the world's highest-paid female athlete. Sharapova has won two Grand Slam singles titles. She is the reigning U.S. Open champion, having defeated Justine Henin in the final of the 2006 U.S. Open. Two years earlier, she defeated Serena Williams in the final at Wimbledon

Sharapova's parents moved from Homyel, Belarus, to Siberia, Russia, in 1986, after the Chernobyl nuclear accident. She was born the following year in Nyagan, Russia. At seven, Sharapova was brought to the United States by her father, Yuri Sharapov, to attend the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Bradenton, Florida. Her mother, Yelena, who could not come with them because of visa restrictions, followed a few years later. Sharapova has lived in the United States since then but retains her Russian citizenship.

Maria Sharapova in Singapore!  December 3, 2007

Are you a tennis fanatic and looking for a unique way to celebrate your pre-New Year's Eve day?? Then fret not! Coz former world number one Maria Sharapova will make her debut in Singapore late this December when she takes on fellow Russian player Anna Chakvetadze in an exhibition match. Maria Sharapova, who has won two grand slam titles, will play the world number six on December 30 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium, organizers said last week. The exhibition match will be a repeat of this year's Australian Open quarter-finals, when Maria beat Anna in straight sets en-route to the final, where she lost to Serena Williams. Anna later reached the semi-finals of this year's U.S. Open in New York. Sure, the 20-year-old tennis genius was runner-up in the season-ending WTA tour championship in Madrid after making a top-five finish in the tour rankings for the fourth consecutive year, but the foremost question in the minds of tennis aficionados everywhere is "will Maria Sharapova be super brilliant on the court once again?"

What’s up with Maria Sharapova??  September 25, 2007

The tennis superstar is into a lot of controversies these days. Aside from her lackluster year in the world of tennis, Maria Sharapova (and her team) is also annoying a lot of people. Apparently, she late cancelled from Tier 1 events, shown little concern for her hurting opponent, and has pretended not receiving instruction from the stands. The latest in the growing list of her blunders was during the Fed Cup final last week with fellow Russians. Maria Sharapova did not play because of her shoulder injury (also the culprit of her poor performance this year). However, Maria served as a practice partner. But as one Russian player succinctly puts it, “What's the point of coming here all the way from America if you can't play? She said she wanted to help our preparation and be our practice partner but, to me, if you can't play how then can you practice? It just doesn't make sense.” Yeah, it really doesn’t! So what’s up Maria??