Maria Sharapova - GQ Spain December 2008

Maria Yuryevna Sharapova (Russian: Maria_sharapova.ogg Мари́я Ю́рьевна Шара́пова (help·info), Mariya Yur’evna Sharapova; born April 19, 1987) is a former World No. 1 Russian professional tennis player. She has won three Grand Slam singles titles. In 2004 at the age of 17, she won Wimbledon, defeating Serena Williams in the final.[2] She has since won the 2006 US Open, defeating Justine Henin in the final,[3] and the 2008 Australian Open, defeating Ana Ivanović in the final.[4] Sharapova has represented Russia in Fed Cup, although her appearances have been controversial.[5]

She has been featured in a number of modeling assignments, including a feature in Sports Illustrated. Sharapova was the most searched-for athlete on Yahoo! in both 2005 and 2008.[1][6][7] In July 2008, as a result of her success both on and off court, she was the world's highest-paid female athlete.[8]

Starting in 2007, Sharapova has been suffering from a right shoulder injury and has not played a professional singles match since August 2008. This caused her ranking to slip to World No. 65 on May 11, 2009.[1]