Maria Sharapova

Maria Sharapova Image

Mariya Yur�evna Sharapova; born April 19, 1987) is a former World No. 1 Russian professional tennis player. She has won three Grand Slam singles titles. In 2004 at the age of 17, she won Wimbledon, defeating Serena Williams in the final. She has since won the 2006 US Open, defeating Justine Henin in the final, and the 2008 Australian Open, defeating Ana Ivanovic in the final. Sharapova has represented Russia in Fed Cup, although her appearances have been controversial.

She has been featured in a number of modeling assignments, including a feature in Sports Illustrated. Sharapova was the most searched-for athlete on Yahoo! in both 2005 and 2008. In July 2008, as a result of her success both on and off court, she was the world's highest-paid female athlete.

Starting in 2007, Sharapova has been suffering from a right shoulder injury and has not played a professional singles match since August 2008. This caused her ranking to slip to World No. 126 on May 18, 2009.

By : Wikipedia.com