Maria Sharapova, born April 19, 1987 in Nyagan, Russia, is a Russian tennis player. Her talent has become apparent very early, when at the age of six she was evaluated by Martina Navratilova, who recommended professional training in order to develop her skills. A year later she moved to Florida with her father, who did everything he could in order to accommodate Maria’s tennis career.When she turned professional, she quickly reached the finals of Australian Open and Wimbledon for juniors and was regarded as one of the top young tennis stars. Even though she was quickly ousted from US Open and Wimbledon, she continued developing her skills and a year later she scored her first Grand Slam title be clinching Wimbledon and gained top 4 in the WTA rankings. Over the next couple of years she won several majors, and also represented Russia at the Fed Cup, alongside Elena Dementieva and Anastasia Myskina.Off court she has represented major brands, including Nike, Gatorade and Cannon, making her one of the best paid athletes in the world. She also appeared in swimsuit edition of Sports Illustrated among some of the best known supermodels, like Marisa Miller and Alessandra Ambrosio. Maxim magazine ranked Maria as the hottest athlete in the world several years in a row, and FHM magazine ranked her the seventh most eligible bachelorette. In April 2009, a prominent hockey player Alexander Ovechkin, known as the Great Eight, expressed his desire to meet her while interviewed on "Off The Record".
