CHAPTER ONE Getting into the Game Maria Sharapova was born on April 19 1987 in Nyagan an industrial city in the Western Siberia region of Russia which was part of the Soviet Union at the time Her father Yuri and her mother Yelena were originally from a city called Gomel in present-day Belarus which was also part of the Soviet Union They had left Gomel in 1986 soon after a major disaster occurred at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in nearby Ukraine Like many residents of the area they fled because they were afraid of exposure to radiation from the accident They chose to go to Nyagan because Yelena’s parents lived there QUICK FACT Maria’s real first name in Russian is Masha Her family still calls her by that name 6 Nyagan was a harsh place to live The city was cold and had become grimy because of its many oil refineries and factories Yuri worked in the region’s oil fields and Yelena stayed at home with young Maria Maria’s grandparents also helped take care of her
Getting into the Game Maria’s family and others who lived near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant had to abandon their homes after the 1986 nuclear disaster Many had to leave their belongings behind 7
The family moved to the Russian resort town of Sochi when Maria was two years old The climate was much better in Sochi than in Nyagan Yuri worked around Sochi to support the family Yelena stayed at home to take care of Maria Discovering Tennis Shortly after the family moved to Sochi Yuri Sharapov began playing tennis at a local park He often took young Maria with him and she would watch him play One day when she was four years old she picked up his racket and started hitting balls Yuri and the other adults were impressed by her ability to hit so well at such a young age She showed that she had amazing coordination and an ability to concentrate Sharapova attends a 2014 event to mark the reopening of her hometown tennis court in Riviera Park in Sochi Russia where she first played the game 8 MARIA SHARAPOVA TENNIS GRAND SLAM CHAMPION
Getting into the Game Sochi native Yevgeny Kafelnikov plays at Wimbledon in 1994 Kafelnikov won the French Open in 1996 and the Australian Open in 1999 He thought young Maria had potential as a tennis player QUICK FACT Child-sized tennis rackets were very had to find in Soviet Russia so Maria had to use an adult-sized racket when she first started playing Soon Maria started practicing with her father They practiced regularly at a park near their home where some of Sochi’s best tennis players played Yuri made friends with the famous Russian tennis coach Yuri Yutkin Yutkin offered to give Maria her first real tennis lesson Like other adults who had seen her play Yutkin was impressed by her speed and coordination Local tennis star Yevgeny Kafelnikov also saw that she had great promise He gave her one of his rackets with a shortened handle that would be easier for her to use Maria continued to improve quickly She could hit tennis balls consistently for hours seemingly without tiring By the time she was six Yutkin already thought she could be a star 9
