Why Maria Sharapova Is on Her Way Back to No. 1

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: July 10, 2011

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Disclaimer: The views expressed here are of a guy who is crazy about Maria Sharapova, although I have tried to be as unbiased and rational as possible. Oh, and I hate Sasha Vujačič!

Maria Sharapova’s performance over the last couple of months has given much fodder to the tennis blogosphere debate as to whether the Russian is on her way back to the top of the WTA rankings.

At Wimbledon last week, Sharapova reached her first Grand Slam final since winning the Australian Open in 2008. Last month, she also reached the semifinals of the French Open, which is supposed to be her least favourite Slam.

These performances have boosted her ranking to No. 5, which is the highest she has managed after that career-threatening injury a couple of years ago.

How much further can she go?

Let’s start off with a bit of history, shall we?

Maria’s foray into the world of tennis began when she was given her first tennis racket by Yevgeny Kafelnikov’s father at the tender age of four.

When she was seven, Maria participated in a tennis camp graced by the presence of Martina Navratilova.



The Czech-American veteran was so impressed by what she saw that she immediately recommended Maria to join the famous Nick Bolletieri Tennis Academy in Florida, whose alumni include the likes of Bjorn Borg, Boris Becker, Jim Courier, Monica Seles, Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi.

Maria’s family wasn’t the wealthiest in Russia; in fact, they were pretty middle-class. So, it took a lot of courage for Maria’s father, even after realizing his daughter’s potential, to throw his family's life away in Russia and move to a whole new continent for the sake of Maria's future.

Maria’s life in the Sunshine State didn’t begin so brightly since she didn’t speak a word of English.

Her family’s life there wa...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Tennis

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