June 20, 2011
Sorry, fellas, Maria Sharapova is off the market - and she has a sparkling rock the size of an ice cube to prove it.
The Russian pin-up and 2004 Wimbledon champion is engaged to NBA basketball star Sasha Vujacic, and the New Jersey Nets shooter will be in the players' box at SW19 to support her.
Sharapova became the darling of Centre Court when she won the Venus Rosewater dish as a 17-year-old seven years ago, and it has taken a combination of the Williams sisterhood and a serious shoulder injury to keep sport's shiniest frisbee out of her range since then.
But a run to the French Open semi-finals, and a return to the world's top 10, have made her secondfavourite behind defending champion Serena Williams this year.
And while her betrothal to Vujacic - no pauper himself, with an estimated fortune of £10million - promises to forge a household of unrivalled financial clout in sport, she is in no mood to let tennis play second serve to her wedding plans.
While Sharapova opens up against fellow Russian Anna Chakvetadze, with a possible glamfest against British sweetheart Laura Robson in the pipeline, Vujacic can recline at leisure in his ringside seat.
Of the 400,000 fans expected through the All England Club's gates over the next 14 days, none will get closer to one-woman corporation Sharapova. Vujacic, a twotime NBA champion with Los Angeles Lakers, said: "If it's true I am the envy of millions of men, that's a great compliment to me and my fiancee.
"We are very happy together, on and off our respective courts, and that's what matters.
"She believes that winning Wimbledon this year would be the biggest win of her career - and I believe it, too."
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