Maria Sharapova

Sharapova started hitting tennis balls at age four. At age nine she began training at Nick Bollettieri’s Tennis Academy in Bradenton, Florida, USA - a big commitment and sacrifice as she was away from her family and country at such a young age. This sacrifice is now paying dividends with success on and off the tennis court. In early 2016 she failed a drug test, and later admitted to testing positive for meldonium which she had been taking for years but was only recently added to the banned substances list.

BEST GRAND SLAM PERFORMANCES

Australian Open: winner 2008
Roland Garros: winner 2012
US Open: winner 2006
Wimbledon: winner 2004

• At six years of age she participated in a tennis exhibition in Moscow that featured Martina Navratilova.
• Her off-court interests include fashion, singing, dancing and movies (favorites are Mona Lisa Smile, Something's Gotta Give and Love Actually).
• She enjoys reading books in the Sherlock Holmes and Pippi Longstocking series.
• She prefers Russian and Thai cuisine
• Her favorite dessert is French crepes with Nutella.
• Her favorite drinks are orangina and virgin strawberry daiquiris
• She signed with IMG Models in November 2003