10 unknown facts about Maria Sharapova
Maria Sharapova was knocked out of the Mutua Madrid Masters in the second round after losing a pretty exciting game to 2014 Wimbledon runner-up Eugenie Bouchard.
Bouchard, who had previously called the Russian a “cheater,” won in three sets to advance to the third round where she will play against top seed Angelique Kerber who survived a scare against rising star Katerina Siniakova in the second round.
Sharapova returned to tennis after a 15-month ban for testing positive for meldonium, a substance that had been banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Her comeback tournament was the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart where she reached the semi-finals before being defeated by Kristina Mladenovic. As a result, Sharapova’s ranking went up to 262. She will next compete at the Rome Masters as a wildcard contestant.
From being a Wimbledon Champion at the age of 17 to being one of the highest earning female athletes in the world, Sharapova has had a lot of success, both professionally and commercially. However, there are many facts about the Russian tennis diva which the general public may not be familiar with. Here are 10 such facts.
#10. Sharapova’s love for London
Being a sportsperson, Sharapova has travelled all around world throughout her extensive career and she is bound to have a soft spot for many places. One of those cities is London which the Siberian Siren cites as one of her favorite cities.
Sharapova has shown a lot of endearment towards Londoners and has stated that she finds the British accent to be “sexy”. As a matter of fact, Sharapova gained international stardom in London by winning the Wimbledon in 2004 at the age of 17.