When Maria Sharapova burst onto the tennis scene she was viewed as a generational talent about to take the tour by storm.
Although tennis is instilled into many players from an early age, very few have literally been living and breathing the sport since they could walk quite like Sharapova.
IMG and Nike handed huge endorsements to the Russian before she was even a teenager and it was absolutely no surprise that Sharapova would enjoy such a glittering career and enter the Tennis Hall of Fame.
Her father, Yuri, left absolutely no stone unturned in a quest to make Sharapova the very best female player on the planet and he was always a regular in her box at matches cheering her on every step of the way.
Sharapova finished her career with five Grand Slam titles to her name. In truth, it might have been more were it not for Serena Williams and her stranglehold on the tour at the time.
What Martina Navratilova said about Maria Sharapova aged six
Navratilova is one of the best players to have ever swung a tennis racket. As a result, Yuri Sharapova was keen for her to take a look at Maria when she was just six-years-old.
After visiting a tennis centre in Russia, Sharapova got to hit some balls in front of a watching Navratilova and she reveals how a conversation played out between the legendary player and her dad in her autobiography.
She explains on page 39: “When I finished, Navratilova pulled my father aside to talk. I’m not sure exactly what she told him, nor is he, but the basic point was this: Your daughter can play; you need to get her out of the country to a place where she can develop her game. America.”
Sharapova’s father did manage to get her to America and the rest as they say is history. What transpired was remarkable as the Russian became a serial Grand Slam champion and a world number one.
Sharapova won Wimbledon aged 17
This was the breakthrough moment in the career of Sharapova when she defied the odds to defeat Serena Williams and be crowned Wimbledon champion in 2004.
Sharapova won 6-1, 6-4 in the final after a brilliant run to the final where she defeated American player Lindsay Davenport in the semis.
This was the tournament that made the tennis circuit stand up and take notice of Sharapova with the player proving anyone wrong who said she’d never win a Grand Slam title.
Navratilova clearly knew talent when she saw it and in advising Sharapova to head off to America she placed one of the game’s best-ever female players on the path to a simply stunning career.
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