Sharapova’s Childhood: A Journey of Many Changes

Sharapova was born on April 19, 1987 in the small town of Nyagan, eastern Siberia, Russia. The beauty’s parents are Belarusians. Mr. Yuri and Ms. Yelena went to Russia to live before their only daughter was born because they feared the effects of the Chernobyl nuclear explosion in their hometown of Belarus in 1996.

One-year-old Maria Sharapova took a photo with her grandmother in Siberia. Although she only spent a short time here as a child, Sharapova answered in an interview that she was very happy and proud of her Siberian origin.

In 1989, Sharapova’s family moved to the coastal city of Sochi. In the photo, ‘Russian Doll’ took a photo with her grandmother (blue dress), mother (white shirt in the middle) and a relative in Sochi. This is where Sharapova first learned about tennis after following her father to the tennis court. The then 4-year-old girl had her first lessons on felt balls with former Russian tennis coach Yuri Yutkin – who was immediately impressed when she saw Sharapova hit the ball, noting her rare hand-eye coordination. She is only half the size of a racket.

In 1993, Sharapova attended the tennis training center in Moscow of legendary Martina Navratilova. Martina Navratilova also recognized Sharapova’s talent and advised Mr. Yuri to send his daughter to America to pursue a soccer career, and the beauty’s parents decided to listen. A year later, with $700 in savings and no knowledge of English, Mr. Yuri and his only daughter went to the country to dream of becoming famous. Because of visa problems, Sharapova’s mother could not go with her father and son, but two years later she was able to go to the US to reunite her family.

Sharapova’s father had to work many jobs so that his daughter could continue to learn to play tennis until she was old enough to be accepted into the IMG training academy and receive a scholarship. Recalling the time spent away from her mother, the tennis queen once shared in her autobiography: ‘I was often very lonely. I miss my mother so much. My father works hard so he doesn’t get to see his daughter often. There were also times when he tried to come home early to see me before I went to bed. In the photo, Sharapova’s family reunites in America after Yelena was transferred to the country of flags.

Little Sharapova shows off her achievements after training at the IMG academy. However, the beauty’s memory of this time is being bullied by her seniors. “Russian Doll” usually goes to bed early at 8:00 p.m. but is woken up by older friends at 11:00 p.m. and forced to clean the room. However, it was her unstable childhood years that made her strong and stubborn. ‘I’ve learned to take care of myself, I never think about giving up because I know what I want. When you start from nothing and have nothing, you will be more hungry and determined. I had to endure many more ridicule and insults to pursue my dream,’ the blonde beauty said.

Starting to compete professionally at the age of 14, Sharapova advanced quickly. In the photo, the 15-year-old young girl beamed when she won runner-up at the 2002 Australian Open youth tournament. Sharapova did not expect that 6 years later she would be crowned in this tournament but at a higher level, winning her third Grand Slam. in career.

10 years after coming to America, Sharapova repaid her parents’ sacrifices by winning the 2004 Wimbledon championship with a victory over her sister Serena Williams in the final. The blonde girl became the third youngest player in history to win the Wimbledon title after Lottie Dod and Martina Hingis. Sharapova admitted that she was very naive at the time, still collecting stamps and not understanding the impact of winning until she was older.

The new Wimbledon king celebrates his success with his father – Mr. Yuri. In her farewell letter to her career on February 26, the beauty wrote: ‘When I was 6 years old, I crossed the ocean to Florida with my father. The world was so big at that time, planes, airports, America was huge. Everything is as immense as the sacrifices of my parents’.

Sharapova suddenly became a star after her shocking victory in the 2004 Wimbledon final. With a lovely face and a tall figure like a model, ‘Russian Doll’ received many advertising invitations. Success on the field also goes hand in hand with the opportunity to make money off the field. Before the doping scandal broke out in 2016, Sharapova held the position of the richest female athlete in the world for 11 years.

Returning after a 15-month suspension, Sharapova is only a shadow of her peak years, constantly suffering from injuries. Since the beginning of 2020, the beauty has only played two matches and lost. The last match of Sharapova’s career was a loss to Donna Vekic in the first round of the Australian Open.

On the afternoon of February 26, Sharapova announced her retirement with articles published in two fashion magazines, Vogue and Vanity Fair. ‘I spend my whole life on tennis and tennis also gives me a life. Every day I will miss it very much. I will miss training and the daily routine: waking up at dawn, tying my left shoe lace before my right, and closing the yard gate before hitting the first ball of the day. I miss my team, my coaches. I will miss the moments sitting with my dad on the gym bench, the handshakes win or lose, and the colleagues who pushed me to be the best version of myself whether they knew it or not. Looking back, I realize that tennis is my mountain and the road I went through was full of challenges but the view from the top was amazing. After 28 years and 5 Grand Slam titles, I am now ready to conquer another mountain,’ the beauty’s letter read.