Maria Sharapova went bling-bling to Wimbledon this year, wearing $800 18-carat glitter on her shoes, has been voted the favorite female tennis player of the last 20 years at Wimbledon by a men's mag, she's fashion model tall (6"0"), and she grunts louder than a hippo in heat.
But while the 18-year-old Russian won the Wimbledon crown last year, she was unable to defend it, losing to Venus Williams today in the semis, 7-6 (2), 6-1.
Maria's overwhelming appeal to tennis fans is evident as she received an astonishing 46% of the vote from more than 10,000 readers of weekly men's magazine Zoo. Fellow Russian Anna Kournikova was second with 19% and 1980's star Argentine Gabriela Sabatini received 15%. Another beauty and fan favorite, Daniella Hantuchova of Croatia, and American Serena Williams, were rated forth and fifth respectively.
Paul Merrill, Zoo Editor, said: "Whereas Anna Kournikova had the looks but no game, Maria Sharapova has the lot. Not only is she the current Wimbledon Champion, but she has the looks and figure of a supermodel."
As for the match today, it was nice to see Venus back in great form despite the blood-curdling shrieks of Maria, which is rumored to be louder than the all-time scream champ, Martina Hingis. Venus played awesome and was truly gracious on the court. Hopefully, little sis Serena will takes some notes on how to be a class act -- that is, if and when her fluctuating interest in the game returns.
Maria is just 18 and has the package to be a superstar -- if only it weren't for all the noise. Tennis fans have had to turn down the sound on their TVs when she plays -- it's that bad. (She even grunts loudly when she soft-pats a DROP SHOT!) Find out just how annoying it is by checking out the Maria Sharapova 'Scream' Cell Phone Ring Tone (satire). Says the ad: "...surprising that she doesn't burst those balls screaming like that."
