Ana Ivanović (born November 6, 1987, in Belgrade, Serbia, then Yugoslavia) is a former World No. 1 Serbian tennis player. She is currently ranked World No. 8 by the Women’s Tennis Association and is the reigning French Open singles champion. She was also the runner-up in singles at the 2007 French Open and the 2008 Australian Open.
Ivanović’s mother, Dragana who is a lawyer, attends all of her daughter’s matches. Her father, Miroslav, a self-employed businessman, attends as many events as he possibly can. Ana has a younger brother, Miloš, with whom she loves to play basketball. Other hobbies include shopping, watching movies and playing Sudoku. She chooses not to have a permanent coach. Aside from her tennis career, Ivanović also studies finance at a university in Belgrade, and Spanish in her spare time. Her inspiration to begin playing was Monica Seles, and she also admires Roger Federer.
Maria Yuryevna Kirilenko ( born January 25, 1987) is a Russian professional tennis player. Born in Moscow, she won her first WTA Tour title in 2005, defeating Anna-Lena Groenefeld 6–3, 6–4 in the China Open. Kirilenko reached #18, her career-high singles ranking, on the WTA tour in July 2008. She is a good friend of Maria Sharapova. She is affectionately called Makiri. Maria Kirilenko won the junior event at the 2002 Canadian Open, as well as the 2002 US Open junior tournament. In December 2004 she played in a tennis exhibition in Tampa, Florida to raise money for the Florida Hurricane Relief Fund.
In 2006, she was selected to be the face of Adidas by Stella McCartney tennis range, designed by noted British fashion designer Stella McCartney. Since the 2006 Australian Open, Kirilenko has played in adidas clothing and footwear designed by Stella McCartney at all upcoming tournaments.
Maria Sharapova – Arguably, the combination of her tennis success and physical beauty have enabled her to secure commercial endorsements that greatly exceed in value her tournament winnings. In April 2005, People Magazine named her one of the 50 most beautiful celebrities in the world. In 2006, Maxim magazine ranked Sharapova the hottest athlete in the world for the fourth consecutive year. She posed in a six-page bikini photoshoot spread in the 2006 Valentine’s Day issue of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, alongside 25 scantily-clad supermodels. In a poll run by Britain’s FHM magazine, she was voted the seventh most eligible bachelorette, based on both “wealth and looks.” Read more
Maria Yuryevna Sharapova (born April 19, 1987) is a former World No. 1 Russian professional tennis player. As of September 22, 2008, she is ranked World No. 6 by the Women’s Tennis Association.
Sharapova has won three Grand Slam singles titles. In 2004, at the age of 17, she won Wimbledon, defeating Serena Williams in the final. She has since won the 2006 US Open, defeating Justine Henin in the final, and the 2008 Australian Open, defeating Ana Ivanovic in the final.
As of July 2008, she is the world’s highest-paid female athlete. She is currently coached by her father, Yuri Sharapov, and former player Michael Joyce.
I would definitely agree with the author..
This is one of those stories that makes you shake your head in disbelief — first, that it happened, and second, that you didn’t get in on it in time. Seems the lovely Wimbledon champ Maria Sharapova put herself — well, a date with herself, anyway — up for auction at a charity tennis tournament. The winning bid was $10,000, which seems a bit below market value. Lobbing up the awkwardness quotient is the fact that Ms. Sharapova’s boyfriend apparently got outbid for the date. Think that was a comfortable ride home? Read more
Ekta Chowdhry - Miss India Universe 2009
Noelia Monge - Puerto Rican pop singer
Doris Schmidts - Miss Germany 2009
