Maria Sharapova,

Some Lesser Known Facts About Maria Sharapova

• Does Maria Sharapova smoke: No

• Does Maria Sharapova drink alcohol: Yes

• Sharapova’s parents fled their home in Gomel, Belarus following the 1986 Chernobyl disaster. Sharapova has thus donated heavily to Chernobyl related projects.

• When Maria and her father moved to the US, they couldn’t speak English and had only $700 in pocket. Since Maria was too young to enroll in a Tennis academy, her father worked odd jobs and coached Maria himself on public Tennis courts.

• Maria signed her first deal with Nike at the age of 11.

• At the age of 15, she became the youngest player ever to reach the finals of the Australian Open junior tournament in 2002.

• Maria Sharapova is the most searched athlete on Yahoo in the years 2005 and 2008.

• Sharapova became the UN Goodwill Ambassador in the year 2007.

• Maria was engaged to basketball player Sasha Vujacic in 2010 but called it off later.

• In the year 2010, Maria launched her own apparel line named “Nike Maria Sharapova collection.”

• Maria Sharapova won a silver medal at the London Olympics, 2012.

• Maria has also launched a successful candy line called “Sugarpova” and has her own brand of perfume as well.

• Sharapova has a habit of grunting while hitting the ball. The maximum intensity of Maria’s grunt recorded on the court is 105 decibels.

• Maria is an avid reader having profound interests in “Pippi Long Stocking” and “Sherlock Holmes” series.

• She enjoyed an extensive list of sponsors viz. Canon, Land Rover, Cole Haan, Nike, Parlux, Prince Sports, Tiffany & Co., Sony Ericsson & Tag Heuer.