Russia. Previously her parents had lived in Gomel, Belarus, but were compelled to move after the Chernobyl nuclear accident in 1986. When Sharapova was two, the family moved to Sochi. There, Sharapova's father befriended Aleksandre Kafelnikov, whose son Yevgeny would go on to become a Grand Slam champion. Aleksandre gave Sharapova her first tennis racket at the age of four and subsequently, she and her father began to practice regularly in the local park. Age six, Sharapova attended a ...