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Maria Sharapova: Wimbledon Championships
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Maria Sharapova enters finals by defeating Kim Clijsters with an impressive 6-2, 6-4 win at the semi-final of the Australian open. The win has entitles Maria to meet the former champion Serena Williams during the finals. Maria’s opponent Clijsters had announced that she would retire at the end of this season and this was her final appearance in Melbourne. Sharapova relived the 2004 Wimbledon final while claiming the second set form Clijsters since the latere could not convert the crucial break points. Sharapova claimed five breaks while Clijsters could manage only two out of 12. Another strong point in favour of Maria was her 70% success rate.
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Tennis star Maria Sharapova has been referred to as the next Anna Kournikova. She’s Russian, blonde and quite the looker. So what sets her apart from everyone’s favorite calendar girl? She can actually win, complete with stunningly long legs that complement her six-foot-tall stature and an impressive grunt that has gained her plenty of its own recognition. Maria has been called the “Queen of Grunts” and the “Siberian Siren,” among a slew of other creative nicknames that low-life commentators have time to make up. With a recent win at Wimbledon and a series of money-spinning deals with Nike, NEC and Prince, Maria has already been prepared for the life of a sports celebrity.
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Because she’s beautiful, blonde and from Russia, tennis star Maria Sharapova is often compared to Anna Kournikova. But only Sharapova has a U.S. Open title, a Wimbledon crown and a #1 ranking. In just a few short years as a pro, Maria Sharapova has stamped herself as one of the most popular and dominant players on the circuit. At the end of 2006 she was not only the top ranked player, but ... the world’s highest paid female athlete. With nearly 20 career victories before she even turned the age of 20, Maria Sharapova has a bright future ahead of her both on and off the tennis court.
In 2004, Maria Sharapova won her first Grand Slam title when she beat Serena Williams at Wimbledon. In 2006, she defeated Justine Henin at the U.S. Open, and at the 2008 Australian Open, she beat Ana Ivanovic in the finals.
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Wimbledon winner Maria Sharapova has revealed her plans to launch a perfume line next year. “I’m excited because it is so different to what I’ve done in the past,” the 17-year-old told The Associates Press. The blond bombshell who threatens to overshadow Kournikova, will step in the footsteps of another renowned tennisist, Gabriela Sabatini, who lends her name to the eponymous scent, and will create her own fragrance.
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Sharapova qualified for the WTA Tour Championships only because Venus Williams withdrew from the tournament. Playing only her second match in two months, Sharapova beat World No. 9 Daniela Hantuchová 6-4, 7-5 in her first round-robin match, before coming from a set down to defeat World No. 2 Svetlana Kuznetsova 5-7, 6-2, 6-2 to ensure a place in the semifinals. In her final round robin match, Sharapova defeated Ivanović 6-1, 6-2 in just over an hour. As the winner of the Red Group, Sharapova then played the runner-up of the Yellow Group, Anna Chakvetadze, in the semifinals. Sharapova won that match 6-2, 6-2. In the final, Sharapova lost to World No. 1 Henin 5-7, 7-5, 6-3 in a match that lasted 3 hours and 24 minutes.
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