Maria Sharapova

About the Maria Sharapova

Maria Yuryevna Sharapovais 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 Associationfor 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. 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.

Sharapova failed a drug test at the 2016 Australian Open, testing positive for meldonium, a substance that had been bannedby the World Anti-Doping Agencysince she turned professional in 2001. In 2018, she launched a new program to mentor women entrepreneurs.