Country  Russia Residence Bradenton, Florida, USA Born On: 19 April 1987 Place of birth Nyagan, Siberia, Russia Height: 1.88 m (6 ft 2in) Weight 69 kg (149 lb) Turned Pro 2001 Retired Active Plays Right-handed (two-handed backhand)   Maria Yuryevna Sharapova (Mar-I-ya YUR-yev-na Sha-RA-pahva ); Russian: Мари́я Ю́рьевна Шара́пова; born April 19, 1987) is a former world number one professional tennis player and the highest paid female athlete.

Her parents are originally from Gomel, Belarus, but moved to Siberia, Russia in 1986, in the aftermath of the Chernobyl nuclear accident. Sharapova was born in Nyagan, Russia, the following year. She now lives in the United States, but retains Russian citizenship.
At the age of three, Sharapova moved with her family to the Black Sea resort town of Sochi. She started playing tennis at the age of four, using a racquet given to her by the father of tennis star Yevgeny Kafelnikov, a native of Sochi. At the age of six, while in a tennis clinic in Moscow, Sharapova was spotted by Martina Navratilova, who urged her parents to get her serious coaching in the United States.

Barely able to make ends meet, Sharapova's parents took a risk. Sharapova and her father traveled to Florida to enroll at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy. A visa problem meant a two-year separation between Sharapova and her father in America, and her mother in Russia.

To pay for her school fees, her father worked at several jobs at one time. A full scholarship granted by International Management Group made life more comfortable for the father and daughter.