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Maria SharapovaMaria was born on April 19 in Nyagan, in the Siberian region of Russia. On the very same day, USSR had carried out an underground nuclear test. Maria’s parents, Yuri Sharapova (Father) and Yelena (Mother), moved to Black Sea resort of Sochi on the "Russian Riviera" together with young Maria in 1989.She started playing Tennis at the age of four in 1991. In 1992, during an exhibition tournament in Moscow the five-year-old Maria was spotted by tennis legend Martina Navratilova, who recommended her name to Nick Bollettieri's tennis academy in the United States.In 1996, in order to start intensive training at Bollettieri academy, the nine-year-old had to be separated from her mother for two years because of visa restrictions and the family's financial situation. Maria turns professional on her 14th birthday in 2001. Off court she develops interests in fashion, reading, dancing, stamp-collecting and movies - her favorite is Pearl Harbor. She reached the final of the junior event at the Australian Open and in March enters the WTA world rankings at No 532 in 2002. The talented Sharapova had already been noticed and she appeared in a magazine list as one of 20 teenagers who will change the world and one of the 21 athletes in the same year to star in the 21st century. She was ranked at No186 in 2002. Interesting MariaSome very interesting facts are associated with Maria Sharapova. She was (and still is) so ambidextrous that she almost became a left-handed tennis player. At Wimbledon 2004, her grunts reached a loudness of 83 decibels, louder than a revving motorcycle. |
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Maria is out of the Berlin tournament after she lost 2-6 4-6 to Justine Henin-Hardenne of Belgium in the quarter final. Maria took a cool 2-0 lead but lost 6 straight games. In the second set, Maria again took good lead: 4-2. But the former world number one Henin-Hardenne came back to take the next four games and the set and the match. 06 May 2005. 