Maria Sharapova was born on 19 April 1987 in Nyagan, in Siberia, where her parents had settled after leaving the region around Chernobyl. The family moved on to Sochi on the Black Sea, where she first picked up a racquet at four. At a clinic in Moscow, Martina Navratilova saw her play and advised that she train at Nick Bollettieri's academy in Florida. Her father Yuri took her to the United States with less than $1,000; the sources date the move between 1993 and 1996, and visa restrictions kept her mother away for more than two years. She began training at the Bollettieri academy at nine.
She turned professional in 2001, at 14, while still playing junior events and reaching two junior major finals. In 2004, aged 17, she beat the two-time defending champion Serena Williams 6–1, 6–4 in the Wimbledon final to become the first Russian woman to win the title, and she beat Williams again at the season-ending championships. She became the first Russian woman to reach world No. 1. She won the US Open in 2006, beating Justine Henin, and the Australian Open in 2008, beating Ana Ivanović.
Shoulder injuries, and surgery, slowed her down, but in 2012 she won the French Open, beating Sara Errani, to become one of only ten women to complete the career Grand Slam, and she won the Olympic singles silver medal in London. She won Roland Garros again in 2014, beating Simona Halep, on what had been her least favourite surface. She was also part of Russia's 2008 Fed Cup-winning team.
In 2016 she tested positive at the Australian Open for meldonium, which had been added to the banned list on 1 January that year. The International Tennis Federation suspended her for two years, reduced on appeal to 15 months. She returned in April 2017, won one more title and reached the 2018 French Open quarterfinals, and she retired in February 2020, aged 32, with five major singles titles and 36 singles titles. She has since concentrated on her businesses, including the Sugarpova confectionery brand she launched in 2012.