Injury-free Sharapova looks to strong Hardcourt season to move up rankings

Maria Sharapova says her ankle injury appears to have healed and she looks forward to a strong hardcourt season leading up to the U.S. Open in September.

On her itinerary is a stop at the Rogers Cup event Aug. 14-20 in Montreal, after tournaments in San Diego and Los Angeles. "I'm excited - I'm finally injury free," the 19-year-old Russian said on a conference call Thursday. "I had a good tournament at Wimbledon and then had a week off, and now I'm training for the U.S. Open series.

"Last year, I went into the U.S. Open with almost no matches. This year, I'm looking forward to building my game and my confidence going into the U.S. Open."

Sharapova has battled through a bone bruise in her right ankle for much of this season.

A year ago, she missed the Rogers Cup, a key pre-U.S. Open event, in Toronto with a back injury, but one week later, the vagaries of the WTA computer gave her a brief hold on the No. 1 ranking for the first time in her career.

She is now ranked No. 4, leading a pack of four Russians who are stuck behind the three women who have dominated women's tennis in the last two years - current No. 1 Amelie Mauresmo of France and Belgians Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin-Hardenne.

Since winning Wimbledon and becoming a tennis sensation as a 17-year-old in 2004, Sharapova has mostly stalled at the semifinals in grand slam events.

This year, she was beaten by Henin-Hardenne in the Australian Open semis and by Mauresmo in the Wimbledon semifinals, but she won a hardcourt tournament in March at Indian Wells - the 11th tournament victory of her career.

In no way does the lithe six-foot-two right-hander feel her career has stalled.

"I'm a work in progress," she said. "Just because I won a grand slam when I was 17 doesn't mean I'm going to get a win at every slam.

"I'm happy. I'm 19, and to be consistently in the top five in the world and getting to the semifinals of grand slams and coming close. . . I've played some really tough matches against Amelie, and Justine."

The Nyagin, Siberia native, who began training at the Nick Bollettieri tennis academy in Florida when she was nine, says her best tennis is still to come.

"I don't feel I'm at the peak of my career," she said. "I feel like there's so much work ahead of me that can make me better. I can't start worrying about the fact that I haven't won a grand slam since (2004).

"Experience has a lot to do with it. I'm playing girls who are 24 years old. They didn't win a grand slam when they were 17, but they're at the peak of their careers at 24 or 26."

Sharapova made her only appearance so far at the Rogers Cup in Montreal in 2004, losing in the third round to Russian Vera Zvonerova. Mauresmo has won the tournament the last two times it was in Montreal in 2002 and 2004.

This year, a WTA tour experiment will allow players to have their coaches with them on court during matches. Sharapova, who is coached by her father Yuri Sharapova and by Michael Joyce, doesn't see it making a big difference.

"I've always been a player who plays by instinct," she said. "I can't worry about what other people want me to do.

"You travel with a coach to help you with things. They scout the players and things like that. But on court, you don't worry about what you're going to do. You play your game."

Sharapova makes eyes at Aston Martin

The only thing Russian tennis ace Maria Sharapova does faster than hit a tennis ball is drive. Even before she got her US driver's licence recently, the 19-year-old was all-too-familiar with the Florida highway patrol.

"I have been pulled over for speeding twice and both times the police officer asked me for my autograph and let me go. I am lucky," the world's highest-paid female athlete says, giggling. "I do like speed but I also like to be safe and I feel safest when I am behind the wheel of my Range Rover Sport. But I like to think of myself as a very good young driver.

"Because I travel so much, it took me forever to get my learner's permit. I could never find the time to take the tests. Finally, I was able to take the test and get my driver's licence. Getting that licence was ... freedom."

Before that Sharapova was carried to tennis training on her dad Yuri's bicycle. Now, worth tens of millions of dollars and sponsored by the likes of Land Rover, she has discovered an appetite for high-octane cars.

"A few months ago I was in Spain and I went on a car racing track that a friend owns. It was in one of those low race cars. It was pretty incredible," Sharapova says at a party held by Land Rover in London. Earlier she had unveiled the company's new Freelander 2 to the media. She is passionate about her four-wheel-drives, but her dream car, she says, is another piece of British car design. "The Aston Martin Vanquish is just hot," she says, before admitting she hasn't sat in one. "But I've seen one on the road and it's a good-looking piece of material... I'd love one.

Age : 17 (April 19, 1987)
Birthplace : Nyagan, Russia
Current Residence: Florida, USA
Height: 6"0 (183 cm)
Weight: 130 lbs (59 kg)
Hair: Dirty Blonde
Eyes: Green
Turned Pro: 2001
Sponsors: Nike, Prince, Motorola,
TAG Heuer,Land Rover.

Maria is coached by her father Yuri Sharapov and Robert Lansdorp. Maria's mother's name is Yelena. Maria Sharapova started playting tennis when she was four years old, at six she participated in an exhibition match in Moscow that featured Martina Navratilova.Maria Sharapova began training at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Bradenton, Florida, USA, at age nine, which required a two-year separation from her mother due to visa restrictions and financial difficulties.Maria's interests include fashion, singing, dancing and going to the movies...Favorites include Mona Lisa Smile, Something's Gotta Giveand Love Actually. Maria also enjoys reading books within the Sherlock Holmes and Pippi Longstocking series. Maria likes Russian and Thai food. Maria's favorite dessert is French crepes with Nutella... Maria Sharapova's favorite drinks are orangina and virgin strawberry daiquiris. Maria Sharapova signed with IMG Models in November 2003.

After winning the 2004 WTA year ending championships Maria received a $1,000,000 as well as a Porsche Cayenne S. Following her 2004 Wimbledon win over Serena Williams she appeared on NBC's Today Show, Live with Regis and Kelly, the Mike and Mike Show on ESPN Radio, Entertainment Tonight, Inside Edition, ESPN's SportsCenter, Fox and Friends, ESPN's Cold Pizza, the CBS Early Show, MTV's TRL, featured in Inside

Edition, Access Hollywood and the WTA Magazine Show. Maria Sharapova became the first tennis player in more than two years to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated in a special double-issue on newstands for two weeks in July, 2004. Maria also appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno in Los Angeles. Maria was featured in the August 2004 Vogue Italia Magazine issue. Nominated for Laureus World Newcomer of the Year Award. In 2003 Maria Sharapova was profiled in W magazine and USA Today... Named one of the "coolest girls" in America by YM magazine and "On the Move" by People Magazine. In 2002 Maria Sharapova appeared on Teen People’s list of 20 teens who will change the world and named by SPORT Magazine as one of 21 athletes to watch for in the 21st Century.

After winning Wimbledon in 2004, Sharapova signed a one-year deal with Car company, Honda, but the deal was only in Japan.In November 2004, Sharapova signed a deal to represent Canon Inc. and promotes both their cameras and office products.In December 2004, she signed a deal with Swiss sports watch TAG Heuer to become their latest "sport and glamour" ambassador.Also in December 2004, Sharapova donated $10,000 to victims of earthquake and killer tsunamis in Thailand.In January 2005 she donated proceeds of an auct

ion for the Porsche car she won at the season-ending WTA Tour Championships of more than $50,000 to victims of the school seige in Beslan, Russia.In April 2005, she was listed by People Magazine as among the 50 most beautiful celebrities in the world.In June 2005, Forbes magazine listed Sharapova as the highest-paid female athlete in the world, with annual earnings of $18 million. A significant portion of this amount came from endorsements.In 2006, Maxim magazine named her the hottest athlete in the world.

In February 2006, she featured in a six-page bikini photoshoot spread in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue annual magazine which debuted on Valentine's Day, along with 25 other scantily-clad supermodels. Sharapova joined the ranks of other athletes who have previously appeared in the publication.In April 2006 Sharapova signed a three-year deal with Car company Land

Rover to endorse their vehicles that one source with knowledge of the deal said was worth approximately $2 million a year.In June 2006, Maria appeared in a commercial for ESPN's This is SportsCenter campaign. In the commercial, she is walking past Stuart Scott's desk when he stops her. He offers her a can of tennis balls he received from a supplier. She says that the can is filled with paper "worms" and that she doesn't want it. Stuart acts offended, causing Maria to feel bad. She obliges to take the can, opens it, and paper worms fly into her face. She angrily walks away and throws the can back at Stuart after he asks for it back. This commercial is a sequel to a similar one featuring Roger Federer.

Never one to stay quiet on court, perhaps one of the most unusual aspects of Sharapova's game is her trademark on-court "grunting", or "screaming". Quite possibly the loudest female screamer since Monica Seles, Sharapova's on-court grunts have been measured at 10

2.12 decibels — apparently as loud as a police siren. Sharapova claims that this is just part of her game and that only the British press give her a hard time about it. Elena Dementieva, Sharapova's opponent in the Wimbledon 2006 quarter-final, is the latest player to complain about the distraction it causes.Says what she enjoys most about being a professional tennis player is the travelling/getting to meet new people and see new cultures. Is good friends with fellow Russian tennis player Maria Kirilenko, despite not getting along with many of the other female Russian tennis players.Is affectionately called "Masha".Is currently single. (Stated by herself on Total Request Live).Is ambidextrous, and was undecided about which hand to use dominantly up until her professional tennis career began.

Awards

2003

• WTA Newcomer of the Year

2004

• WTA Player of the Year
• WTA Most Improved Player of the Year
• WTA Player Service

2005

• ESPY Best Female Tennis Player
• Named Russia's tennis federation as the country's best female player for the year
• Awarded the honorary Master of Sports of Russia title

Achievements

2004 Singles Record: 55 - 15
2004 Singles Titles Won: 5 (Birmingham, Wimbledon, Seoul, Japan Open, Season Ending Championship)
2004 Prize Money: $2,506,263
2004 Porsche Race To The Championships Ranking: #5
2004 WTA Current Ranking: #4

Career Singles Record: 121-34
Career Singles Titles: 7 (2004; Birmingham, Wimbledon, Seoul, Japan Open, Season-Ending Championships, 2003; Japan Open, Quebec City)
Career Doubles Titles: 3 (2004; Birmingham, 2003; Japan Open, Luxembourg)
Career Prize Money: $ 2,752,068