Maria Sharapova (born 19.04.1987) - Russian sportswoman. Maria was born April 19, 1987 in Nyagan, a town in western Siberia, where her parents, Yuri and Yelena, had fled from Belarus a year earlier to avoid radiation from Chernobyl. An only child, Maria was encouraged by her parents to try everything, from dancing and music to athletics. She discovered tennis after her fourth birthday, when a family friend-Kafelnikov’s father-gave her one of his son’s old Dunlop tennis racquets. The die was cast. By the time Maria was six, local tennis coaches encouraged Yuri to take her to Moscow to be considered for the Russian Tennis Federation. There, she wowed RTF head coach Yuri Udkin, who felt she was the best tennis player he had ever seen. Around this time, Bollettieri offered a glimpse of Maria to execs at International Management Group, the global sports representation and marketing agency that owned his academy. They were blown away, and immediately put her on full scholarship.
Maria was born April 19, 1987 in Nyagan, a town in western Siberia, where her parents, Yuri and Yelena, had fled from Belarus a year earlier to avoid radiation from Chernobyl. An only child, Maria was encouraged by her parents to try everything, from dancing and music to athletics. She discovered tennis after her fourth birthday, when a family friend-Kafelnikov’s father-gave her one of his son’s old Dunlop tennis racquets. The die was cast.
By the time Maria was six, local tennis coaches encouraged Yuri to take her to Moscow to be considered for the Russian Tennis Federation. There, she wowed RTF head coach Yuri Udkin, who felt she was the best tennis player he had ever seen.
Around this time, Bollettieri offered a glimpse of Maria to execs at International Management Group, the global sports representation and marketing agency that owned his academy. They were blown away, and immediately put her on full scholarship.