Born on April 19, 1987 in Nyagan, Russia, Maria Sharapova moved with her family to Sochi in 1989. At the age of four, she met the famous Russian tennis player Yevgeny Kafelnikov, who gave her her first racket. Two years later, while she was in a clinic, she had the chance to meet Martina Navratilova. She was only six years old when she showed her talent to Navratilova, who immediately talked to her father into taking the young girl to Bollettieri in Florida, USA. This same advice was given by her coach to the Russian Federation.
When she turned seven, Maria’s father took his daughter to the United States without knowing a single word of English, and with less $1000 in his pocket. IMAG, the athlete representative company, agreed to sponsor Maria and pay $35,000 per year, the amount of money that the academy cost them. Two years later, her mother finally could join them when she travelled to Florida and moved with them there.
Her official career started in 2001, when she participated in the junior circuit. During that year, she won 25 matches, and lost only three. She won three titles: Sacramento, Hilton Head and Pilsen in the Czech Republic.
In August 2005, she became the new world number one tennis player according to WTA, the association that governs women’s tennis. Sharapova was only 18 years old when she took the place of American player Lindsay Davenport, and also became the first Russian to get the top of world hierarchy.
She still has a net worth of $135 million despite the scandal that forced her to cancel the majority of her contracts with many of her sponsors. After the scandal she started when she announced in a press conference she had failed the ITA drug test, Maria Sharapova has been withdrawn from any important competition after being one of the most important female tennis players during the last decade in the WTA circuit around the world.
