Maria Sharapova
Maria Sharapova
Maria Yuryevna Sharapova; born April 19, 1987) is a Russian professional tennis player. A United States resident since 1994, Sharapova has competed on the WTA tour since 2001. She has been ranked world No. 1 in singles by the WTA on five separate occasions, for a total of 21 weeks. She is one of ten women, and the only Russian, to hold the career Grand Slam. She is also an Olympic medalist, having earned silver for Russia in women's singles...
NationalityRussian
ProfessionTennis Player
Date of Birth19 April 1987
CityNyagan, Russia
CountryRussian Federation
When you travel so many weeks a year, it's always nice to have a home-cooked meal.
I love jotting down ideas for my blog, so I doodle or take notes on all kinds of stuff that inspires me: the people I meet, boutiques I visit, a florist that just gave me a great idea for an interior-design project, things like that.
I have had lots of luck in my career but there has also been a lot of hard work.
I love where I'm from. I don't live there because of the circumstances, but all my family is there. It's what's inside, it's not what's outside that determines the culture and the feeling.
I'm never standing still and that makes my life pretty exciting.
People always ask about young people like me being forced into things. I play tennis because I love it. I think Russians might be tougher than other people. When I arrived in America I was young, but I already knew what I wanted. I think that when you start from nothing, when you come from nothing, it makes you hungry. I am proud of where I came from and I know what I want. I want to win.
I know many of you thought that I would be retiring today, but if I was ever going to announce my retirement it would not be in a downtown Los Angeles hotel with this fairly ugly carpet.
My family and I built my whole career from scratch.
If I can create something that allows a woman to feel better - that is the true reward.
I think when you have surgery on any part of your body, it’s never going to be the same,
Maybe if I was British, a semi-final would be incredible. I'd be on the front page of the paper.
Whether you win a match or lose a match, in terms of your emotions, it's important to be pretty levelheaded.
I've been very competitive by nature from a young age, whether it was eating a bowl of pasta faster than somebody else, or always wanting to be the first one in line.
I'm focused on going out every day and doing my best.