Maria Sharapova

Maria Sharapova

Sharapova in 2019
Full name	Maria Yuryevna Sharapova
Native name	Мария Юрьевна Шарапова
Country (sports)	Russia
Residence	Florida and California, US
Born	(1987-04-19) 19 April 1987 (age 37) Nyagan, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Height	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)[1]
Turned pro	19 April 2001[1]
Retired	26 February 2020[2]
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand), born left-handed
Prize money	$38,777,962 4th all-time in earnings[3]
Singles
Career record	645–171[1]
Career titles	36
Highest ranking	No. 1 (22 August 2005)[1]
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	W (2008)
French Open	W (2012, 2014)
Wimbledon	W (2004)
US Open	W (2006)
Other tournaments
Tour Finals	W (2004)
Olympic Games	F (2012)
Doubles
Career record	23–17 (57.5%)[1]
Career titles	3[1]
Highest ranking	No. 41 (14 June 2004)[1]
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open	2R (2003, 2004)
US Open	2R (2003)
Mixed doubles
Career record	2–1 (66.7%)
Career titles	0
Grand Slam mixed doubles results
US Open	QF (2004)
Team competitions
Fed Cup	W (2008)
Signature
Medal record Representing  Russia Olympic Games 2012 London Singles

Maria Yuryevna Sharapova (Russian: Мария Юрьевна Шарапова, pronounced [mɐˈrʲijə ʂɐˈrapəvə] ^ⓘ; born 19 April 1987) is a Russian former world No. 1 tennis player. She competed on the WTA Tour from 2001 to 2020 and was ranked world No. 1 in singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for 21 weeks. She is one of ten women to achieve the career Grand Slam. She is also an Olympic medalist, having won silver in women's singles at the 2012 London Olympics. She has been considered as one of the best tennis competitors of her generation.

Sharapova became the world No. 1 for the first time on 22 August 2005 at the age of 18, becoming the first Russian woman to top the singles rankings, and last held the position on 8 July 2012.^[4][5] She won five major titles — two at the French Open and one each at the Australian Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. She won 36 titles in total, including the year-end championships on her debut in 2004. She also won three doubles titles. Although she played under the banner of Russia with the WTA, she has lived in and been a United States permanent resident since 1994.^[6]

Sharapova failed a drug test at the 2016 Australian Open, testing positive for meldonium, a substance that had been banned (effective 1 January 2016) by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). On 8 June 2016, she was suspended from playing tennis for two years by the International Tennis Federation (ITF).^[7][8][9] On 4 October 2016, the suspension was reduced to 15 months, starting from the date of the failed test, as the Court of Arbitration for Sport found that she had committed "no significant fault" and that she had taken the substance "based on a doctor's recommendation... with good faith belief that it was appropriate and compliant with the relevant rules".^[10][11][12] She returned to the WTA Tour on 26 April 2017 at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.

Sharapova has been featured in a number of modeling assignments, including a feature in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. She has appeared in many advertisements, including those for Nike, Prince, and Canon, and has been the face of several fashion houses, most notably Cole Haan. Since February 2007, she has been a United Nations Development Programme Goodwill Ambassador, concerned specifically with the Chernobyl Recovery and Development Programme. In June 2011, she was named one of the "30 Legends of Women's Tennis: Past, Present and Future" by Time^[13] and in March 2012 was named one of the "100 Greatest of All Time" by Tennis Channel. According to Forbes, she was the highest-paid female athlete in the world for 11 consecutive years and earned US$285 million (including prize money) since she turned professional in 2001.^[14][15] In 2018, she launched a new program to mentor women entrepreneurs.^[16]