2003
Women's Tennis Association (WTA) Newcomer of the Year
2004
WTA Player of the Year
WTA Most Improved Player of the Year
2005
ESPY Best Female Tennis Player
Named the country's best female player for the year by Russia's tennis federation
Master of Sports of Russia
Prix de Citron Roland Garros
2006
Named the country's best female player for the year by Russia's tennis federation
Whirlpool 6th Sense Player of the Year
2007
ESPY Best Female Tennis Player
ESPY Best International Female Athlete
ESPN Hottest Female Athlete
Maria Sharapova – Ambassador of United Nations Development Program (UNDP)
This scintillating ace player who amazed the world with her talent on-court and off-court has been chosen the latest celebrity to be appointed a Goodwill ambassador for the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and she has given her consent to use her fame and charm to earn support for the UNDP organization and to fight against global poverty. She even donated $100,000 to help improve the public sector in the parts of the Ukraine, Belarus and Russia, the areas badly affected by world’s nuclear accident, 1986 Chernobyl disaster. She wants to help improve the Chernobyl affected region where her family has roots. Maria has joined hands with Danny Glover and soccer players Zinedine Zidane and Ronaldo, who are already working for the development fund.
She knows how to balance her game and off-court activities and she is trying to improve all and every shot to play better tennis and keep playing for long, and definitely this ace player has long way to go and add more success to her credit. As of April, 2008, she is ranked # 3 in the world.
