Maria Sharapova – the latest tennis beauty wins men’s
hearts all over the world
Just in case you’re getting
sick of Anna we now have a new tennis beauty, Maria. Maria Sharapova, to be exact.
Maria is very young – born on April 19, 1987 – but is already on her way
to become a sports legend. She
currently lives in Bradenton, Florida, USA but was born in Russia’s Siberian
region and started playing tennis at the age of four.
Known for her model-like
looks, she first participated in tennis exhibition in Moscow at the tender age
of six, where she also met Martina Navratilova. Her talent was recognized
early and she emigrated to the States with her father in order to further
pursue her career in tennis (and perhaps to secure future perfume deals and such)
Sharapova began training at
Nick Bollettieri’s Tennis Academy in Bradenton, Florida, at age of nine. Because of visa restrictions and family
finances she had to be separated from her mother for two years during that time.
As talented as she is, Maria
Sharapova has been getting lots of attention for her beauty – there are
pictures, wallpapers and galleries all over the net devoted to her – as much as
she’s been praised for her excellent playing technique.
Maria Sharapova is now a
Wimbledon champion and she has just developed further her winning history by
winning over Daniela Hantuchova in the second round of the Zurich Challenge. Sharapova had been quoted saying that she
is never too satisfied with her game but feels very much in control, especially
when it comes to her excellent serve.
Coming to Zurich off the
back of her tennis victories in Seoul and Tokyo, Sharapova was in the excellent
shape, as good as she was during her Wimbledon triumph. (There was a short interruption in her
winning streak, between winning the Grand Slam event in July and arriving in
Seoul at the start of the fall, when she was unable to win two matches in the
row but now it seems she is totally back into her form.)
Tennis aside, it is
interesting to note that there seems to be a sort of a cult-like following of
female tennis players ever since Anna Kournikova showed up on courts with her
blonde pony tail and a skirt that was shorter than her official stay as the
queen of the courts.
And, really, who doesn’t
know who Venus or Serena Williams are and who doesn’t remember
Navratilova? Nowdays the skirts are
getting shorter, the hair-dos are getting sexier, the grunts on the courts are
no longer perceived as signs of enormous effort but are considered by many male
audience as almost sexual, a part of the spectacle.
I remember sitting with a
bunch of male friends, watching one of Sharapova’s early performances, trying to concentrate on the game. I am interested in tennis. And my male friends claimed to be interested
in it as well but after a number of : ”Wow, look at those nips!” or: ”She’s not
wearing a bra!” I had to point out that this lovely person they were commenting
on was – in some cases – more than twice their junior. After I said that, one of my male friends
looked at me and said I was jealous being an old cow and that.
Okay, you dirty pig.
Farm animals aside, Maria
Sharapova from her spectacular beginnings seemed to get more attention for the
see-through top she was wearing and a napkin of a skirt when she first beat a
serious rival, Conchita Martinez Granados in Australian Open, last year. I was slightly annoyed by the press coverage
that kept indicating that if the win was a fluke she always has a modeling
career to fall back on.
But she is genuinely a good
tennis player and I only hope that she won’t become an accessory to a
semi-famous Latin singer the way the last court princess, Anna Kournikova, has
become instead of focusing on the game that really counted.
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