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Maria Sharapova, the Princess of the Courts

She is the first Russian female tennis player that won the Wimbledon Tournament. She also owns the title of being the youngest tennis player that competes in this tournament after famous Swiss player Martine Hingis…

Maria Yuryevna Sharapova was born in Nyagan Russia on April 19, 1987.The Sharapova  family had moved from Gomel, Belarus to Siberia, Russia just 1 year ago, after the nuclear Chernobyl accident. Sharapova was brought to the States by her father when she was 7 and started the Nick Bollettieri tennis Academy in Bradenton, Florida. Following this, her mother went to stay with her. Although she spent her childhood in the States, Sharapova stayed as a Russian citizen. When Sharapova was 17 in 2004, she became the third youngest tennis player who became ladies champion after Lottie Dod and Martina Hingis. Sharapova won Ai Sugiyama in the quarter final (5-7, 7-5, 6-1), Lindsay Davenport in the semifinal(2-6, 7-6, 6-1) and in the finals, Serena Williams  who won the championship twice consecutively(6-1, 6-4) and became the second youngest champion that won the Open Era tournaments, in the meantime. Maria Sharapova was the first Russian that won the Wimbledon Tournament and completed the 2004 WTA Championship with success by turning the score from 0-4 to 4-6, 6-2 and 2-4 in the final set of the game with Williams at the end of the season. Sharapova won 22 games consecutively on the turf field from June 2004 until the semifinal of 2005 Wimbledon, including the Birmingham and Wimbledon Championships. Continuing with her successes after winning the Wimbledon, Maria went up to the semifinal in 2005 Australia Open Tennis Tournament but lost the game against Serena William with sets of 2-6, 7-5 and 8-6. However, she went on getting advertisement support after these games.

Going up to the top for the first time in the WTA placement on 22 August 2005, Sharapova could keep her place only for a week and then lost it to Lindsay Davenport. On 12 December 2005, she went up to the first place again in the US Oren semifinal although she lost and this time she was successful in keeping her place. Later on, she lost it again to Davenport.

Sharapova lost 4 tours in Grand Slam Tournament to the champion of the Grand Slam. Therefore she was eliminated. Being defeated by Serena Williams in the Australian Open semifinal, by Justine Henin- Hardenne in French Open in the quarter final and by Kim Clijsters in U.S. Open semifinal, Sharapova got over this position in 2006. Amélie Mauresmo won the tournament although she lost against Henin-Hardenne in the Australian Open semifinal. Kim Clijsters had to leave the 2006 U.S. Open because she was injured by her wrist. Therefore Sharapova started the tournament in the third place and won Amélie Mauresmo that was in the first place in the WTA placement with sets of 6-0, 4-6 and 6-0. She also won Henin-Hardenne in the final with sets of 6- 4 and 6-4 and won the grand slam tournament. This was the 13th tournament of her career and the 3rd tournament of the year.

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