Maria Sharapova is a world-renowned professional tennis player from Russia who was created on April 19, 1987, in Nyagan, Siberia, Russia. Aleksandr Kafelnikov, a family friend, presented Maria with her first tennis racket in 1991 after which she began to practice frequently with her father in a local park. She had her very first tennis lessons with veteran Russian trainer Yuri Yutkin. She suggested her to take professional training in the IMG Academy at Bradenton, Florida. After learning how to play tennis as a child, she moved to Florida with her dad, getting a scholarship at age nine to receive training at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy, but was not able to enter there since she had been too young for this.

Her father worked in various low-paying jobs so she would take her tennis lessons. Before she was accepted in the International Management Group (IMG) Academy, she was coached by Rick Macci in the Rick Macci Tennis Academy. In 1995, Maria was signed by IMG. IMG approved paying an annual tuition fee of $35,000 to get Maria to remain with the academy, in which she eventually enrolled at age 9. Roku sticks not working on TV Back in November 2000, she won her first competition in the Eddie Herr International Junior Tennis Championship from the girls' 16th branch. She was later bestowed with all the Rising Star Award.

Maria made her professional debut on her 14th birthday (April 19, 2001). When she was 15, she performed in the final of the Australian Open Junior championship, making her the youngest man to reach the final, and proceeded to compete amongst her peers, finishing second at the Wimbledon and hitting the next round of French Open (Junior) in 2002.

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