Great Pics of Maria Sharapova, a Classic, Sports Illustrated Calendar 2006.
Let's Play a Game Maria!!!!
Maria Sharapova was born into a family who moved from Homel, Belarus, to Siberia, Russia, in 1986, after the Chernobyl nuclear accident. She was born the following year in Nyagan, Russia.
Sharapova's father, Yuri Sharapov, brought Maria to the United States to attend the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Bradenton, Florida when she was 7 years old. She speaks English without a hint of a foreign accent. Her mother, Yelena, who could not come with them because of visa restrictions, followed a few years later. Sharapova has lived in the United States since then but retains her Russian citizenship.
Until recently, Sharapova lived most of the year near the IMG training facility in Bradenton. She has moved to Manhattan Beach, California.
Sharapova is good friends with other tennis players on the WTA tour: childhood friend and fellow Russian Maria Kirilenko, French player Tatiana Golovin, Serbian player Jelena Janković, and Slovak Daniela Hantuchova. She has called actress Camilla Belle her best friend. In the past, she has been romantically linked to fellow tennis stars Andy Roddick and Novak Đoković as well as Adam Levine, the lead singer of Maroon 5, though none of these relationships have ever been confirmed.
