Maria Sharapova Iourievna (Russian: Мария Юрьевна Шарапова, Transcript International: Marija Jurjevna Šarapova), born April 19, 1987 at Niagan in Siberia (Russia) is a Russian professional tennis player. His parents are originally from Gomel, Belarus, but fled Russia in 1986 after the Chernobyl disaster.