MARIA SHARAPOVA, is currently competing in the Italian Open, but has been denied wildcard entry to the French Open. The Russian tennis champ has gone up against Serena William and Anna Kournikova in her time – but was recently slammed by Andy Murray after her doping scandal.
Maria, 30, is one of the most talked about female tennis players in the world with a reputation that precedes her – not only thanks to her talent but also her stunning looks.
Unfortunately more recently she’s been not been hitting headlines for her talent on the court; Maria was recently handed a two year ban for doping, shortened to 15 months.
The former world number one tested positive for a banned substance – meldonium – but the Court of Arbitration for Sport stressed that she had not sought to break the doping rules deliberately.
She is having to rely on wildcard invitations to make it into the top tournaments.
In the wake of the sportswoman’s return to the game, Express.co.uk rounded up the sexiest pictures of the women who is admired by many fans for more than just her backhand.
It was revealed that she would not be invited to play at Roland Garros, otherwise known as the French Open, as French Tennis Federation (FFT) president Bernard Guidicelli said they hoped to “protect the game” by ruling out the star.
Maria has been ranked world No. 1 in singles by the WTA on five separate occasions.
She is the only Russia woman to hold the career Grand Slam.
She also dated Maroon 5 signer Adam Levine in 2005, after they met at her 18th birthday.
Known as the Siberian Siren, she has been the face of Land Rover, Canon, Tag Heuer and Tiffany.
Tiffany also provided Sharapova with earrings from the “Tiffany for Maria Sharapova” collection at the four major tennis events, including Wimbledon
She even crated her own line of sweet, named Sugarpova.
Later Maria became engaged to Slovenian professional basketball player Sasha Vujačić, however the relationship did not last.
Maria was also linked to Bulgarian tennis player Grigor Dimitrov.
She was listed in 2006 as the highest-paid female athlete in the world, with annual earnings of over ?13,905,000.
She has been named as one of the 50 most beautiful celebrities in the world by People Magazine
