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Maria Sharapova launches Dhs2.4bn Dubai Lifestyle City »
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Celebrated tennis player Maria Sharapova officially launched ETA Star Group's iconicDhs2.4bn lifestyle project the Dubai Lifestyle City (DLC) in Dubailand, the region's largest tourism, leisure, entertainment and lifestyle destination.
Alongside the launch, Maria Sharapova also inaugurated the Dubai Lifestyle City Wall of Fame, one of the many unique attractions that will mark the project said Arif B Rahman, Managing Director, Dubai Lifestyle City.
He added, 'We invited Maria Sharapova to launch the project to investors because Maria represents the concept of haute living personified by Dubai Lifestyle City. She epitomizes the success, style and standard that a Dubai Lifestyle City home-owner would aspire for. Plus with her strong ties with the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy and IMG Academies, she can identify with the benefits it brings to an aspiring athlete.'
Maria Sharapova Tennis Star said, 'I am honored to be invited as the Guest of Honor for the Dubai Lifestyle City launch. The project looks gorgeous with its Tuscan style architecture; JW Marriott serviced villas and the first of a kind digital community created by Microsoft. In addition I can say from experience that having an institution like IMG Academies in your back-yard is an excellent opportunity for all aspiring athletes in the region.'
'My ties with the IMG Academies are extensive, going back as old as when I was nine years old. I trained and grew up at the Academy. Now as IMG becomes a part of Dubai Lifestyle City's realty offering I like the idea of the impact it will have on the sports enthusiasts and athletes in the region. Obviously, it is not only meant for athletes like me. Dubai Lifestyle City residents, members and guests of all ages and abilities can benefit from the IMG Academies, Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy and David Leadbetter Golf Academy.'
Mohammed Al Habbai, Chief Executive Officer, DubailandTM, said, Dubai Lifestyle City, based in Dubailand sprawling over an area of four million square feet, is envisaged as a unique destination that offers its residents and visitors an enchanting lifestyle within a calm and natural environment.
Expressing his happiness at the opening of an IMGA branch in DLC, Jamal Pritchard, International Business Development Manager, IMG Academies, said, 'Historically we have seen the value proposition of a residential community close to the IMG Academies grow exponentially. This is primarily because families wanting to train their children find it ideal to relocate permanently close to the Academy. However, now with the Academy located within a multi-dimensional residential community like Dubai Lifestyle City, this proposition is amplified manifolds. Our various sports training activities will be useful for not just aspiring athletes, but also lay health enthusiasts who want to lead a healthy and dynamic lifestyle,' he added.
The project partners include some of the most respected international brands to give it a special touch of efficacy, exclusivity and credibility, including JW Marriott, IMG Academies, Cisco and Microsoft. Tony Ashai, the celebrated Beverley Hills designer, has designed Dubai Lifestyle City in the famed Tuscany style of architecture, reminiscent of the renaissance. It will consist of 68 signature villas and 120 apartments; all branded as JW Marriott Residences.
IMG Academies, which houses Maria Sharapova's alma mater Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy, is partnering with Dubai Lifestyle City to set up the first branch of the famed academy outside the United States. Until recently, Sharapova lived most of the year near the IMG training facility in Bradenton. The ace sports institution, known for training the likes of Andre Agassi, Jim Courier, Maria Sharapova and Monica Seles, will for the first time through Dubai Lifestyle City make available to the region world-class training facilities for all sports, particularly tennis and golf.
MARIA
SHARAPOVA vs. ANNA CHAKVETADZE(4th Round FRENCH OPEN 2007) »
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Maria Sharapova
was born on April 19, 1987 in Nyagan, a town in
the Siberian region of Russia. In 1989, the family
moved to the Black Sea resort town of Sochi.
Born in Siberia, Russia, and raised in the United
States since age seven. Father Yuri brought her
to the U.S. in 1994, but mother Yelena didn't
join them until two years later due to visa problems.
She was (and still is) so ambidextrous that she
almost became a left-handed tennis player.
She won the 2004 WTA Championships, defeating
Serena Williams 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 in the final to
pocket one million dollars and win a new Porsche
Cayenne to donate to a charity of her choice.
Her loudest grunt was measured at 101.2 decibels
(louder than a motorcycle or a lawnmower) on 21
June 2005 at Wimbledon Centre Court. Previously
the loudest grunt was by Monica Seles at 93.2
decibels.
According to the LA Times and Orange County Register,
Maria said at a press conference she has grown
a few cm this year and is now 6' 2". She's
been having back pains and has had to pull out
of some tournaments due to the pain which she
thinks is from a growth spurt.
Became number 1 in the world in August 2005 &
is the first Russian player to become the best
player in the world
At 2006 Sharapova claimed her first title of 2006 and eleventh of her career at the Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, California, a Tier 1 event at which she was the third seed. Sharapova and No. 4 seed Elena Dementieva became the first Russians to reach the event's final, with Sharapova triumphing 6-1, 6-2. Soon after, Sharapova lost in the final of the Nasdaq-100 Open to Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-4, 6-3.
Maria Sharapova claimed her second title of 2006 as the second seed at the Acura Classic in San Diego, defeating top-seeded Kim Clijsters 7-5, 7-5. This was Sharapova's first victory over Clijsters in five meetings.
Also in 2006 the Sexy Maria Sharapova was featured in the 2006 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. Sharapova modeling pictures wearing the latest fashion in swimsuit made her first appearance in what was billed to be the most widely read issue of any magazine in the world. Maria Sharapova graces the cover of the swimsuit edition, on the lower right hand corner with the headline "Tennis Ace Maria Sharapova, As You've Never Seen Her."
Sexy Maria Sharapova entered the 2006 U.S. Open seeded third after Clijsters dropped out of the tournament with a wrist injury. Favored to reach the final, she defeated Mauresmo, the top-ranked player in the world, in a semifinal 6-0, 4-6, 6-0. Sharapova then prevailed over Henin in the final 6-4, 6-4 to win her second Grand Slam title.
Sharapova won the Zurich Open, defeating Daniela Hantuchova 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 in the final. Sharapova then won the Generali Ladies Linz, defeating fellow Russian and defending champion Nadia Petrova 7-5, 6-2, to take her fifth title of 2006 and the 15th title of her career.
Sharapova began 2007 by reaching the final of the Watson Water Champions Challenge, an exhibition tournament and warm-up for the 2007 Australian Open, where she was defeated by Kim Clijsters 6-3, 7-6(8).
As of March 29, 2007:
* Sharapova has a 3-5 record in Grand Slam semifinals.
* Sharapova has a 6-12 record against the other top players in the world (2-5 against top ranked Justine Henin, 3-3 against third-ranked Svetlana Kuznetsova, and 1-4 against fourth-ranked Amelie Mauresmo). Sharapova is 2-4 against Serena Williams and 3-4 against Clijsters, both of whom were formerly top-ranked.
Tennis ace Sharapova to play exhibition match at Singapore on Dec 30 »
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Here's a Christmas gift for Singapore sports fans.
The Straits Times understands that tennis beauty Maria Sharapova is set to play an exhibition game here on Dec 30 against fellow Russian and world No 6 Anna Chakvetadze.
With Sharapova tentatively scheduled to arrive two days prior to the match, the leggy 20-year-old is likely to have a few public appearances pencilled in as well.
The match will probably be played at the Singapore Indoor Stadium, with the cheapest tickets believed to cost about $150.
Court-side tickets are likely to be in the region of a few thousand dollars.
The event company understood to be bringing the two stars in - Hong Kong-based Entertainment Group Limited - is also organising next Thursday's 'Clash of Times' between world No 1 Roger Federer and seven-time Wimbledon champion Pete Sampras.
P R E V I O U S A C C O M P L I S H M E N T S »
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There was no stopping the coronation
in Queens. Through precise and powerful groundstrokes,
punctuated by a shriek, Maria Sharapova would
have her second Grand Slam title, this one near
her spiritual Madison Avenue home.
But despite a career so manicured that even her
water breaks are commanded by edict, she jumped
so hard after lifting up the silver champion's
trophy that the lid popped off and tumbled to
the ground. And then she leaned her head back
and laughed with abandon like the teenager she
is. .
The Arthur Ashe Stadium sellout crowd was behind
the 19-year-old Russian, who basked in the lights
at the U.S. Open. When her 6-4, 6-4 win over No.
2 Justine Henin-Hardenne was complete Saturday
night, she gave another scream — this time for
joy.
Sharapova, the second seed, then made the ceremonial
winner's climb up to her player box and hugged
her father, Yuri Sharapova. It had been two years
since she won Wimbledon, punctuated by five slams
where she was dead-ended in a semifinal.
As the red carpet was rolled out for the trophy
presentation, Sharapova made a phone call on her
Motorola and put on a wristwatch. Viewers at home
could once again watch the Nike commercial she
starred in. This is a player the marketers love,
with estimated earnings of $19 million a year,
according to Forbes.
Henin-Hardenne, the winner of the French this
year, was only the seventh woman to reach the
final of all four Grand Slam events in a single
year. Even though the Belgian had managed to beat
Sharapova in four of their previous five meetings,
she was able to muster just a single break point.
It came during Sharapova's first service game,
which included two of her four double faults.
The 6-foot-2 Russian immediately broke back, and
broke Henin-Hardenne a second time to go up 5-4
by nailing a deep forehand which the Belgian couldn't
handle.
In the second set, the two were on serve until
Henin-Hardenne pushed her to deuce by winning
a 24-stroke rally when Sharapova flatly pushed
a forehand into the net. The Belgian seemed to
have the momentum, but Sharapova hit two aces
in the next four points to stay on serve at 3-3.
"She served better than she probably did in our
last meetings," Henin-Hardenne said.
On the next game, Sharapova broke Henin-Hardenne
by taking advantage of a service game fraught
with unforced errors and a double fault.
Sharapova again got signals from the team in
her player box to indicate moments when she should
eat and drink during the match.
USTA officials said that the earlier infractions
— such as father Yuri acting as a puppetmaster
with banana and water, and possibly signaling
for his daughter to take a bathroom break after
losing the second set to Amelie Mauresmo in the
semifinal — did not count as coaching.
During her winner's speech, Sharapova thanked
her father by saying, "I love daddy." Either by
accident or by design, at that moment, Yuri was
on the Motorola phone his daughter endorses.
With the win, Sharapova earns $1.2 million, plus
$500,000 in bonus money from coming in second
in the U.S. Open Series during the hardcourt season
this summer. She also moves up a spot to No. 3
in the WTA rankings. She, in turn, applauded the
USTA for naming the grounds after Billie Jean
King just before she was given her checks.
"Without Billie Jean this would not be possible,"
Sharapova said.
P R E V I O U S A C C O M P L I S H M E N T S »
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Sharapova
earns 18.2 million USD in 2005
03-30-2006
Maria
Sharapova, who did not celebrate any
significant victories in sports last year, continues
to live on the wave of her triumph in Wimbledon.
Forbes magazine, which has a great passion for
counting other people’s money, has recently published
another rating of athletes who earned most in
2005. It goes without saying that the journalists
of the magazine could not leave Russia's biggest
tennis star aside, who signed several highly lucrative
contracts after her triumphant season in 2004.
Having evaluated
the income of the world's richest athletes, Forbes
put Sharapova on the 21st position on the list.
Last year Maria Sharapova earned “only” $18.2
million. This is not a lot in comparison with
Michael Schumacher’s $60 million, or Tiger Woods’
$87 million.
One can probably
say that Maria Sharapova will take a higher position
on Forbes’ next sports rating taking into consideration
the fact that the Russian tennis player has not
even turned 20 yet. In addition, Sharapova has
been quite successful on the tennis court lately.
The girl from Siberia will probably make it to
the top ten of world's richest athletes next time.
Another world-famous
magazine, FHM, which is fond of making a diversity
of women’s ratings, highly evaluated Maria’s advantages.
This time around, FHM journalists selected the
sexiest women in the world and included Sharapova
in the top ten list. The Russian girl has quite
an impressive company: Angelina Jolie,
Jessica Alba, Jessica Simpson, Keira Knightley,
Halle Berry, Jenny McCarthy, Carmen Electra and Teri Hatcher. Scarlett
Johansson was put on the top position
of FHM’s list.
Maria can probably
conquer such ratings in the future as well. Sharapova
has recently unveiled her new Nike sports gear.
The tennis star presented a special black-and-white
corset and a black skirt made on the new Dri-FIT
technology. Sharapova has won quite a number of
tennis matches and is set to play Anastasia Myskina.
Needless to say that
the commercial success is extremely important
for all athletes. However, they also need to take
care of their own popularity among their fans.
Sharapova was considered Russia’s most popular
athlete, although she has lost this status now.
The champion of Wimbledon 2004 ranks only third
after skater Irina Slutskaya and rhythmic gymnast
Alina Kabayeva.
P R E V I O U S A C C O M P L I S H M E N T S »
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Sharapova
Wins Women's Pacific Life Title
03-30-2006
Maria
Sharapova was rock solid in the wind
against Elena Dementieva in the Pacific Life Open
title match.
The 18-year-old Sharapova,
her pony tail whipping in the gusts, defeated
Dementieva 6-1, 6-2 on Saturday in an all-Russian
final.
The title was the
first of the year and the 11th of her career for
Sharapova, the 2004 Wimbledon champion who lives
in Bradenton, Fla.
After Dementieva
hit a backhand into the net on match point, Sharapova
beamed, did her ballerina-like waves to the crowd,
then blew kisses to the fans.
"It (the wind)
was difficult for both of us," she said afterward.
"A lot of balls, you didn't know where they
were going, especially on the serve.
"On these kinds
of days, it's not about playing great tennis;
it's about finding a way to win."
Said Dementieva:
"I think Maria was able to handle the situation
and play with the wind better."
She dominated the
match with powerful, well-placed groundstrokes
that kept the 24-year-old Dementieva off balance.
Sharapova ran her
record against Dementieva to 4-1, including a
2004 victory at Rome that was her first win against
a top 10 player.
