A Star Is Born
A bright new star burst into the tennis galaxy1 on July 3, 2004 when 17-year-old Maria Sharapova won the women's singles championship at Wimbledon. It was Sharapova's first Grand Slam title. The number 13 seed won it by defeating Serena Williams, 6-1,6-4, in the final. The 6' teen was aggressive and returned Williams's volleys2 with sharp, precise shots. But it was Sharapova's poise3 and confidence that stood out the most during the match. “She doesn't back off4,” says Williams.
The Road to Success
Maria Sharapova was born on April 19, 1987 in Nyagan, a town in the Siberian region of Russia. When she was 4 years old, she met with the father of a tennis champion, and the man gave her a racket. From that moment, she started hitting tennis balls. The game soon became a passion5 for her.
Two years later, she met Martina Navratilova, who was surprised by the talent of the 6-year-old. She went to her father, Yuri, and recommended that he take his daughter to the world-famous Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Florida.
When she was only 7, her father took her to the U.S. without knowing a word of English and with only $700 in his pocket. They came to America with little more than a dream. There was no money, no friends, no car, no home...and no promises.
“We came with nothing,” Maria's father says. “I just know for sure that I need to do something to develop what she had.”
IMG, the sports management company, agreed to sponsor Maria and put up the $35,000 US per year it costs to stay at the Bollettieri Academy. Not knowing any English either, she was very shy and introverted6.
While her father took odd7 jobs, Maria moved into the school dorm when she was 9. Sharing a room with three older girls, she quickly learned the language. Still, it was hard on her, especially since her mother remained in Russia because she couldn't get the proper visa.
Two years later, her mother was finally able to come to Florida and be reunited with her daughter and husband. From that moment, she took it upon herself to educate Maria, who has never been in a formal school in her life.
At the age of 14, she formally started her tennis career on the junior circuit.
During the 2001 season, she won 25 matches and lost only three, coming away with three titles. For the 2002 season, she managed to do even better on the junior circuit with 26 victories and, once more, only three losses. She again won three titles.
In 2003, she was accepted on to the WTA professional women's circuit. She came away with 34 wins and 11 losses. She won two professional titles: Quebec City and the Japan Open. In addition, she teamed up with Tamarine Tanasugarn and together they won two doubles titles: Luxembourg and the Japan Open. At the end of the season, she was ranked the 32nd best player in the world.
In 2004, Maria won her first Grand Slam title when she beat Serena Williams at Wimbledon, making herself the first Russian to win a Wimbledon singles title and the third-youngest women's champion in history.
Her Personality
Having had a humble start to life, Sharapova refuses to get carried away8 with her success even though she has now turned that initial9 $700 investment into more than $500,000 in prize money.
At present, she is putting an end to her high school education through Keystone High, an online high school. She does photo shoots once in a while but her priority10 is tennis. Besides, she doesn't need the money, as she has very lucrative11 deals12 with Nike, NEC and Prince. Sharapova currently resides in Bradenton, Florida.
When she's off the tennis court, Maria dresses like any other fashion-savvy13 teenager: short skirts, hiphuggers14, tank tops15, and baby tees16. On the court, she constantly wears pleasing attire17. She has her own opinion about what a player wears. She said, “I definitely think that fashion can express the way you feel and the way you look, and I definitely think that it's very good for the sport. We don't have to wear uniforms, we don't have to kind of be in what everybody else is in18, and I think this is a very good way just to show your personality when you go on court. I definitely think that, you know, everybody has their own unique opinion about what to wear and I think that's very good for tennis.”
Interview
Q You are remarkably calm when you play. Where did that fearlessness come from?
A Honestly, I've never had a problem with that. I love playing tennis, but I also love competing. If you're going to be scared when you walk on the court, you already have a losing mentality19. I believe in myself all the time, so I knew I wasn't going to be nervous.
Q How has your life changed since winning Wimbledon?
A It's been crazy. I've got photographers running around me and driving behind our car all the time, which is very unusual, but that's just the way it's going to be.
Q Has winning your first Grand Slam title so quickly changed your career goals?
A No. I wanted to win Wimbledon, so I accomplished that goal. My next goal is to be Number one in the world and to win many more Grand Slam events.
Q Do you feel any pressure being labeled “the next big star” in women's tennis?
A I've always tried to be myself and just think about what I've wanted to achieve and not think about what other people are expecting from me.
Q What do you do for fun?
A Usual things. I love to shop. I'm still in school. [Go] on the internet [or] on my phone. Off the court, I'm a very outgoing20, giggle21 person.
Q You have a very outgoing personality. Nike said when you arrived in Bradenton, you were very small, very thin, and very, very shy. Was there a victory that made you become more outgoing and more vocal22?
A I don't think it had anything with victory. When you first come to the United States, to a whole different country and a whole different culture, when you're just seven years old, everything just takes you by surprise. You hit a wall where you've never seen this wall before. I just think that I didn't speak English the first four months that I was there. So, of course, I couldn't communicate with many of the people. But, you know, I spoke —I learned English in about four months, and then I wasn't shy.
明星出世
2004年7月3日，年仅17岁的莎拉波娃获得温布尔顿网球公开赛女子单打冠军，一颗明亮的新星在星光灿烂的网球界横空出世。这是莎拉波娃的第一个大满贯冠军，她以第13号种子选手的身份参赛，在决赛中以6：1和6：4的成绩战胜了小威廉姆斯。这位身高6英尺的少女咄咄逼人，用敏捷、精确的击球回应小威廉姆斯的截击球，但是在整个比赛中给人突出印象的是莎拉波娃的镇定和自信。“她就是不肯退却，”小威廉姆斯这样说。
成功之路
莎拉波娃1987年4月19日出生在俄罗斯西伯利亚西部的小镇尼亚冈。4岁的时候，她遇到一位网球冠军的父亲，他给了她一个网球拍。从此，她开始打网球，不久就爱上了这项运动。
两年后，她又见到纳芙拉蒂诺娃，她对这个6岁孩子的网球天份甚为惊讶，于是找到她父亲尤里，建议他送女儿到美国佛罗里达著名的波利泰里网球学校学习。
7岁的时候，父亲带她来到美国，他不会一句英语，口袋里只有700美元。他们只有梦想，没有金钱，没有朋友，没有车子，没有安身之地……前途渺茫。
“来的时候我们一无所有，”她父亲说。“我只清楚我需要做些什么来开发她的潜能。”
体育经纪公司国际管理集团（IMG）同意资助莎拉波娃，他们提供波利泰里网球学校每年所需要的3万5千美元。因为不懂英语，莎拉波娃非常害羞、内向。
9岁的时候，莎拉波娃搬到学校宿舍住，父亲打零工。她与其他三个比她大的女孩住一个宿舍，很快就学会了英语。但生活依然很艰难，主要是因为她妈妈还在俄罗斯，因为签证的原因不能来美国。
两年后，母亲终于来到佛罗里达，同丈夫和女儿团聚。从此，母亲担任起教育莎拉波娃的任务，莎拉波娃从来没有上过正规学校。
14岁的时候，莎拉波娃开始打少年巡回赛，正式开始了她的职业网球生涯。
2001年赛季，她赢了25场，只输了3场，夺得3个冠军。2002赛季她打得更好，赢了26场少年巡回赛，也只输掉3场，再夺3个冠军。
2003年，莎拉波娃进入世界女子网球联合会(WTA)职业女子网球巡回赛，本赛季她赢34场，输11场，在WTA日本公开赛和加拿大魁北克公开赛中连续赢得了两个冠军。另外，她还和泰国的塔娜苏甘配合，共同赢得了卢森堡公开赛和日本公开赛的双打冠军。在赛季末，她排名世界第32位。
2004年，在温布尔顿网球公开赛中击败小威廉姆斯获得她的第一个大满贯冠军，使她成为第一个赢得温网单打冠军的俄罗斯人，也是网球史上第三年轻的冠军。
个性
由于幼年的卑微生活，莎拉波娃没有得意忘形，尽管她父亲最初的700美元投资如今已经变成了50万美元的奖金。
现在，莎拉波娃正打算完成在 “Keystone”网络学校的高中教育，她偶尔也拍一些照片，但网球依然是她的首要任务。再说，她不需要钱了，她和耐克公司、NEC公司以及王子公司签有利润丰厚的广告协议。她目前住在佛罗里达的布瑞丹顿市。
球场下，莎拉波娃的穿着像其他精通时尚的少年一样：短裙、紧身超短热裤、女式背心、短袖T恤衫。球场上，她的服装总是那么赏心悦目。对于运动员的服装，她有自己的看法：“我确信时尚能够表达出一个人的感觉和外表，我确信时尚对体育运动有好处。我们没有必要穿统一的运动服，我们也没有必要跟着别人的时尚走。我觉得在球场上表现你的个性是件很好的事情。我确信每个人对穿什么都有自己的看法，我想这对网球是有好处的。”
访谈
问：比赛的时候你非常平静，这种无畏的气概来自何方？
答：坦率地讲，我从来没有那样的问题。我热爱打网球，我也热爱比赛。如果你走上赛场的时候心里害怕，你在心理上已经输掉了。我一直很自信，因此我知道我不用紧张。
问:温布尔顿公开赛胜利后，你的生活有什么变化吗？
答：简直是疯了。有些摄影师整天围着我，开车追着我，这事儿很不寻常，但事情就是这样。
问：你这样快就赢得了你的第一个大满贯赛事，这会改变你的职业目标吗？
答：不。我一直想赢得温布尔顿网球公开赛，现在达到了目标。我的下一个目标是排名世界第一，赢得更多的大满贯赛事。
问：你被誉为女子网球的“下一个巨星”，对此你有压力吗？
答：我一直努力想成就自己的目标，想的也是这些目标，但并没有考虑别人对我有何期待。
问：你怎么娱乐？
答：很平常的东西。我喜欢逛商店，我现在还在上学。上上网，打打电话。球场外，我非常开朗，喜欢笑。
问：你很开朗，可耐克公司说，刚到布瑞丹顿的时候你个子很小，很瘦，非常非常害羞。是不是有一场胜利使你变得更开朗、话也更多了？
答我觉得这和赢球没有关系。我刚来美国的时候，面临一个完全不同的国家和文化，当你只有7岁的时候，一切都会让你惊讶，你撞上一堵以前从没有见过的墙。刚来的4个月，我不会讲英语，这样我当然不能和很多人交流。但是，你知道，我用4个月的时间学会说英语，这样我就不害羞了。
1. galaxy n． 银河，引申为“一群有才气的、迷人的或显赫的人或物”
2． volley n． 截击球
3． poise n． 镇定
4． back off 后退、退却
5． passion n． 爱好，热爱
6． introverted adj． 内向的
7． odd adj． 临时的，不固定的
8． get carried away 得意忘形
9． initial adj． 最开始的
10． priority n． 优先任务，首要目标
11． lucrative adj． 利润丰厚的
12． deal n． 协议
13． fashion－savvy adj． 对时尚有见识的
14． hiphuggers n． 紧身超短热裤
15． tank tops n． 女式背心
16． baby tee 短袖T恤衫
17． attire n． 服装
18． in adj． 流行的
19． mentality n． 心理
20． outgoing adj． 开朗的
21． giggle n． 咯咯笑
22． vocal自由表达意见的