Maria Sharapova

Maria Sharapova was born on April 19th, 1987, in Siberia. She was born and raised in a town called Nyagan, with no brothers or sisters. Her parents, Yuri and Yelena, had come to Nyagen only a year before she was born. They had left Belarus to escape radiation from Chernobyl. When Maria turned two years old, again, her family moved. They lived in Sochi, a town located near the Black Sea.

It was in Sochi that Maria found her love for playing tennis. It all started when she was four years old. A friend of their family gave Maria one of his son's old tennis raquets. When Maria was six, she went to Moscow to be considered for the Russian Tennis Federation. Although she did extremely well, Maria left Russia and emmigrated to Bradenton, Florida. Life was hard for them when they got there. Maria's mother, Yelena, could not get a visa so she was forced to stay behind. Maria and her father were very poor. They only had $1,000 when they arrived in America. Maria began attending the Bolliettieri Sports Academy.

Maria Sharapova (www.wtatour.com)

After having coaches train her intensly and criticize every move she made, Maria's work finally paid off. The first major match she won was against Myriam Casanova at the Eddie Herr International Junior Tennis Championships. After this, she became a pro in 2001. Maria went on to get into the finals of the Australian Open Juniors when she was 14 and was the youngest finalist ever. That year, she ranked 186th in the world.

In 2003, she enterd in the Australian Open again. Although she did well, Maria didn't make finals. She lost to Shinobu Asogoe from Japan. Then, at Wimbledon, she ended up in the Round of 16. After this, Maria Sharapova ranked 91st in the world. She became the world's youngest winner on the TWA Tour after the Japan Open. By the time Maria was in Quebec, she had a second singles title. Maria ranked 19th in the world after being beat by Serena Williams. In Birmingham, she won singles and doubles. Now, she was ranked 15th and feeling good about the upcoming match at Wimbledon. Maria won Wimbledon in 2004, the French Open in 2004-2005, and the U.S. Open in 2005.

Maria Sharapova is my hero, because she went through many tough times in her life. Through it all, however, she accomplished so very much.