Maria Sharapova becomes mother: 5 unknown facts about her life - In Pics

Maria was just 17 when she won the Wimbledon 2004 title. She beat the great Serena Williams then to clinch the title. She became the youngest Russian to do this. 

Maria was banned for 2 years for taking a banned substance. Her tennis career came to a halt in 2016 when she admitted using Meldonium, which is a banned substance as per World Anti-Doping Ahency. 

Maria is the first and possibly the only athlete to have signed her first endorsement at the age of 11. Usually athletes get endorsement deals when they reach  certain level, but not in the case of Maria as she was spotted early on, at the age of 11, when she signed a deal with Nike.

Maria had talent and she was gorgeous, she ruled the tennis courts from 2005 to 2008, and off it, there were many modelling assignments as well. She shot for many magazine covers and all and that made her the most searched athlete in 2005 and 2008 on Yahoo. 

Yes, you read that right. When Maria attended a tennis clinic in Moscow, Martina saw her playing and immediately reached out to her father Yuri and told him to take his daughter to IMG Academy in Florida which had produced stars like Andre Agassi, Monica Seles etc. Three years later, she was in the academy with a full scholarship.