Maria Sharapova was born on April 19, 1987, in Nyagan, Russia. She started playing tennis at an early age and turned professional at the age of 14. Sharapova won Wimbledon in 2004 against Serena Williams and has gone on to win the U.S. Open and Australian Open. In 2012, she won the French Open, becoming the 10th woman to complete a career Grand Slam. At the 2012 Summer Olympic Games—Sharapova’s Olympic debut—she won a silver medal in women’s singles, losing the gold to American tennis star Serena Williams.Tennis player Maria Sharapova was born on April 19, 1987, in Nyagan, Siberia, Russia. Sharapova began playing tennis as a young child, and at age 9 was taken by her father to Florida, where she enrolled at a tennis academy.