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Blink 3 of 8 - The 5 AM Club
by Robin Sharma
My Life So Far
It was after the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster that two Belarusians, Yelena and Yuri, left their home and headed to Siberia. After they had settled in Nyagan, these two had a daughter, Maria Sharapova, who was born on April 19, 1987.
But Yuri Sharapov detested life in Siberia, and so he soon moved his family to a small apartment in Sochi, a Russian sea resort on the eastern shore of the Black Sea. Maria Sharapova was two years old.
A few years later, on one particularly auspicious day, Sharapova’s father took her down to a tennis court in Sochi. He’d been given a racket as a joke by his brother. While her dad was practicing, the bored Sharapova snatched up an idle racket and started whacking balls herself.
It felt right – almost immediately so. Her ability to concentrate on the game was incredible. Taking notice of this innate ability, her father soon started taking the four-year-old Sharapova to lessons with a proper coach.
Sharapova’s early years weren’t entirely devoted to tennis, however. Her home was a lively place, often filled with friends, and family members visited regularly, too.
She read and wrote stories with her mother, who taught Sharapova the Russian alphabet and insisted she read all sorts of literature and other stories – everything from Pippi Longstocking to Russian poems.
Nonetheless, tennis soon became the major preoccupation of Sharapova’s childhood, and her father ferried her to practice and tournaments.
Her parents were, in many ways, very protective of her. Sharapova still remembers how she used to watch the local children playing from her apartment window. Other than to play tennis, she really wasn’t allowed out much.
Unstoppable (2017) tells the personal story of Maria Sharapova, the internationally renowned and respected tennis star. It chronicles her life, from when her family fled Belarus after the Chernobyl disaster, through to her relocation to the United States and her incredible career achievements. Sharapova’s autobiography offers a testimony to the power of strong will and unwavering determination.
That was my gift. Not strength or speed. Stamina. I never got bored.
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Start your free trialBlink 3 of 8 - The 5 AM Club
by Robin Sharma