網壇新“嬌娃”莎拉波娃

◆Name: Maria Sharapova

姓名：瑪利亞·莎拉波娃

◆Date of Birth: April 19， 1987

出生日期：1987年4月19日

◆Birthplace: Nyagan， Russia

出生地點：俄羅斯的亞甘市

◆WTA Ranking: 4

世界排名：第四位

◆Nationality: Russian

國籍：俄羅斯

◆Height: 188cm

身高：1.88米

◆Weight: 59 kg

體重：59公斤

◆Plays: Right-handed

擊球方式：右手

On April 19， 1987， Maria Sharapova was born to parents Yuri and Yelena Sharapova， in western Siberia. When Maria was two years old， her family moved from her birthplace in Nyagan and settled in Sochilihis was yet another move for her parents， who had moved to Ngygen from Belarus the year before Maria was born in order to escape radiation from Chernobyl. Sochi was home to Russian tennis great Yevgeny Kafelnikov at the time and would soon be the home of another tennis star.

1987年4月19日，一對夫婦尤里和耶蓮娜在寒冷的西西伯利亞地區生下了瑪利亞·莎拉波娃。在瑪利亞兩歲的時候，她家從她的出生地亞甘搬到了索切利西斯，這是他們第二次搬家，上一次是在瑪利亞出生之前，他們從貝拉魯斯搬遷到了亞甘，原因是為了躲避切爾諾貝利的核輻射。索切利西斯是俄羅斯著名網球手耶夫里尼·卡費爾尼科夫的出生地，現在這里即將誕生另一位俄羅斯的網壇明星。

When Sharapova was four years old， she began to develop an interest in tennis. Kafelnikov's father， who was a friend of the family， gave young Maria one of his son's old tennis racquets， and she began to fall in love with the game. She was naturally drawn to the fundamentals of tennis even as a child， and possessed a desire to be the best. Every day， she practiced her tennis skills by hitting tennis balls against the side of the house.

4歲時，莎拉波娃開始對網球產生了濃厚的興趣。卡費爾尼科夫的父親是他們家的朋友，給了莎拉波娃一個他兒子用過的網球拍之后，莎拉波娃更加熱衷于這項運動了。她在很小的時候就開始練習網球的基本動作，而且力爭做到最好。每天，她都對著家里的墻練習網球技術。

In 2001， Sharapova's professional tennis career officially began， when she joined the junior circuit. She won twenty-five matches that year， lost only three. The following year， she did even better， maintaining her record of only three losses， and claiming twenty-six victories. In 2002， she was also permitted to play a number of matches on the professional tour， which was quite an accomplishment for such a young player.

2001年，莎拉波娃的職業網球生涯開始了，因為她參加了世界青年網球巡回賽。在那一年，她共贏得了25場比賽，只輸掉了3場。第二年，她做得更加出色了，保持了一年只輸3場的記錄，而且贏得了26場比賽的勝利。2002年，她開始參加一些場次的職業比賽，這對于一個年輕選手來說是一個很大的成就。

By 2004， Sharapova was as strong as ever，she wowed Wimbledon audience by defeating champion player Serena Williams. This victory made Sharapova the first Russian to win a Wimbledon singles， and the third youngest women's champion in the history of the game.

2004年，莎拉波娃開始走向顛峰，她在戰勝小威廉姆斯之后獲得了溫布爾頓網球公開賽的冠軍。這次勝利使莎拉波娃成為了俄羅斯第一位獲得溫布爾頓網球公開賽冠軍的人，而且是獲得溫布爾頓網球公開賽冠軍第三個年輕的選手。

Winning at Madrid would have offered Maria the chance to end the year at Number 1; however that was not to be and she went down to Henin in the semis. Henin won 6：2 ， 7：5. Sharapova is still on the recovery path from the foot injury that she had a month ago.

在馬德里的捧杯表明莎拉波娃有機會在這一年年末攀升到國際排名的第一位，但是，她沒有做到，在最后的一場比賽中輸給了同樣出色的海寧。海寧以6：2和7：5直落兩盤擊敗了莎拉波娃。當時，莎拉波娃還在腳傷的恢復階段中。

Sharapova has had a dazzling year so far in which she has won five tournaments that includes three-in-a-row in her last three tournaments. She hasn't done too badly financially either and has accumulated a cool $24 million in the last year. Maria was named the world's richest female athlete by Forbes for the year 2005.

莎拉波娃的2005年是一個夢幻的賽季。她贏得了5個巡回賽的冠軍，包括她在最后3個巡回賽上連奪3個冠軍，這簡直是個奇跡。她也因此獲得了不斐的收入，在那年他的總收入已經達到了2 400萬美元。但是她還是沒有被福布斯收錄進世界上收入最高的10名女運動員的行列。

The 2007 Wimbledon did not turn out as the ace tennis player Maria Sharapova had dreamt. Sharapova， the 2004 champion lost in the semifinals against Amelie Mauresmo. This was a great shock to her. The 19 years old found it difficult to lift her spirits after her defeat. But soon she found solace in retail therapy. Sharapova told her fans that positive thinking and retail therapy is of great help at times.She said that is definitely not a setback.\" I take every loss as a new beginning. It teaches me a lot. I am going to be back on the court and I am going to keep working until I get better at those things.\" She added， \"sometimes talk is cheap. It is a matter of going out and doing it. In a few days I will be back on the practice courts and that is what it is all about.\"

2007年的溫布爾頓網球公開賽沒有像莎拉波娃這名發球高手想象的那么順利，莎拉波娃這名2004年此項賽事的冠軍在半決賽上被阿米爾·毛銳斯莫擊敗，止步4強。這對于她來說是一個很大的打擊。19歲的莎拉波娃發現她在這次失敗之后就很難再找回自己的狀態。但是不久后，他就學會用自我療法給自己找回自信。莎拉波娃告訴她的球迷說：積極的思想和自我安慰在那個時候對她非常有幫助。她最終沒有灰心?！拔野衙恳淮问‘斪饕粋€新的開始” 沙拉波娃說，“這教會我許多東西，現在我已經找回自己的信心，我將繼續努力工作，爭取在我的網球事業上做得更好，”她補充說道：“有時光說不做是沒用的，在不久的將來我將回到我的訓練場，開始我新的征程?！?/p>

◆編輯：Nina