Maria Sharapova: Highest Paid Female Athlete

Maria Yuryevna Sharapova is a Russian professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. As of November 19, 2007, she is the fifth-ranked female player in the world. At the end of 2006, she was the world's highest-paid female athlete

Sharapova has won two Grand Slam singles titles. She is a former U.S. Open champion, having defeated Justine Henin in the final of the 2006 U.S. Open. Two years earlier, she defeated Serena Williams in the final at Wimbledon.

Sharapova has been labelled as an offensive baseliner by tennis critics and fans[2]. She is noted for having an excellent double-handed backhand and serves; particularly for the power and placement of these shots. She also is noted for having a good forehand. Likewise, critics claim that for her height, Sharapova has decent agility on-court. Being an offensive player, Sharapova is usually able to overpower her opponents or keep them on the run with sharp angles from the baseline. However she is not known for being among the strongest of defensive players. She loses precision on her groundstrokes when she is put on the run herself, a weakness that the best all-around players will exploit. Sharapova is also not a natural volleyer. Instead of having "soft hands" at the net, she typically uses a powerful "swinging" volley for net approaches. Sharapova usually serves for placement but uses enough power on her first and second serve that attacking that stroke was very difficult for her opponents.

Due to her injury problems, Sharapova has adopted a new service action, with a shorter backswing. Sharapova's first and second serve has become less effective during the 2007 season. Previously, Sharapova had an elongated backswing to generate power on her serve; however, as a trade-off, the swing also placed incredible strain on her shoulder, which eventually led to Sharapova's shoulder injury at the beginning of the 2007 season.It has been seen that in Madrid, Sharapova's service motion has reurned to normal.

In 2006 Sharapova signed a lifetime endorsment deal with Prince Sports, Inc., a longtime sponsor of Sharapova. She currently plays with the O3 White racquet.


Source: http://www.imdb.com/