Word: sharapova
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Dates: during 2003-2003
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...play, such as Dementieva, 21, and Anastasia Myskina, 22, who have both won tour titles this year; 16-year-old Anna Tchakvetadze, who made the girls' singles final at Wimbledon; Lina Krasnoroutskaya, 19, who beat Kim Clijsters in August at the Rogers AT&T Cup in Toronto; and Maria Sharapova, 16, who hasn't won yet but may become the best of the bunch. Impoverished Russian kids copy these heroes the way teenagers elsewhere emulate David Beckham or Shaquille O'Neill, as TV and newspaper coverage bring the triumphant, affluent and socially important new stars into virtually every Russian home...
...says IMG sports agent Max Eisenbud. "There is a reason they're getting involved with this kid. If he dominates the sport at 17, it's not a big investment." Two years ago Nike signed tennis prodigy Brendan Evans, now 17, for $250,000, and Russian tennis ace Maria Sharapova, 16, pocketed $750,000 from Prince. The lucrative deals are a risk: athletic-company endorsements mean the kids lose amateur status and can't compete in college athletics, which can push them prematurely into the pro arena. The parents of tennis wunderkind Donald Young Jr., 13--the No. 1 player...