Any reason why Maria plays for Russia?

[Head-Strong]

I was born and raised in Russia (well until 10) and then moved to US and A (my name Borat!, lol)
anyways.........

Here is her background......

Sharapova's father, Yuri Sharapov, brought Maria to the United States to attend the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Bradenton, Florida when she was 7 years old. Her mother, Yelena, who could not come with them because of visa restrictions, followed a few years later. Sharapova has lived in the United States since then but retains her Russian citizenship.

In 2002, Sharapova bought a beach home in Manhattan Beach, California,[4] a suburb of Los Angeles, but lives most of the year near the IMG training facility in Bradenton.


So anyways........
All i am saying is that to me at least, someone who has moved from the Soviet Union at the age of 9, if i was to play tennis, i would chose to represent USA, and as Dominating as Russian Female tennis is being that of the top 100 girls about 25 are from some form of Russia does she realy need to be just another russian poster perfect tennis girl?

For this reason alone i would pick US (Seles did it right?)

[Andres]

She's Russian.
Case closed

[Andres]

Originally Posted by Head-Strong

I was born and raised in Russia (well until 10) and then moved to US and A (my name Borat!, lol)
anyways.........

Here is her background......

Sharapova's father, Yuri Sharapov, brought Maria to the United States to attend the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Bradenton, Florida when she was 7 years old. Her mother, Yelena, who could not come with them because of visa restrictions, followed a few years later. Sharapova has lived in the United States since then but retains her Russian citizenship.
In 2002, Sharapova bought a beach home in Manhattan Beach, California,[4] a suburb of Los Angeles, but lives most of the year near the IMG training facility in Bradenton.


So anyways........
All i am saying is that to me at least, someone who has moved from the Soviet Union at the age of 9, if i was to play tennis, i would chose to represent USA, and as Dominating as Russian Female tennis is being that of the top 100 girls about 25 are from some form of Russia does she realy need to be just another russian poster perfect tennis girl?

For this reason alone i would pick US (Seles did it right?)

Bold line.
Ergo, she's russian
She feels russian and wants to keep being russian

[Supernatural_Serve]

Its her decision.

She has the right to exploit anything she can out of America and isn't required to give anything back like play Davis cup for America.

She wants to give back to Russia instead.

I don't see any problem.

[MasterTS]

Even Tommy Haas said he isn't a citizen because he wants to play Davis Cup for germany.. and after he retires from tennis, he will get his US Citizenship.. lol funny logic but thats the way things work.

[onkystomper]

Her parents are Russian, she was born in Russia she is Russian er need we say more?

[forzainter]

she probably doesnt want to be american, or maybe she was repaying her cousins who funded her trip to america by playing for russia

[shinta]

you're probably not allowed to represent USA uless you're a citizen of the USA. if she changed her citizenship to USA, then all of Russia would probably start calling her a sellout, and she doesn't want that. i dunno, that's my guess. anyway, i don't think it's a big deal. i mean, you see all the international nba, mls, nhl, etc. players who play professionally in the USA, but then represent their own countries in the olympics. i don't see anything wrong with maria representing russia.

[spaceman_spiff]

Originally Posted by onkystomper

Her parents are Russian, she was born in Russia she is Russian er need we say more?

If you had heard her speak Russian and English, you would guess she's American. Her English and Russian are about the same in terms of fluency and word usage, but she has a strange accent when speaking Russian (it basically sounds like a foreigner who has been taught very well but never lived in the place and, thus, learned to pronounce things the same as others).

To me, it is more about what place most influences who you currently are. So, even though my niece was born in Germany, I wouldn't consider her to be German. I grew up with plenty of kids who were the children of Vietnamese refugees, but most of them considered themselves to be American (even though they all spoke Vietnamese and were surrounded by Vietnamese family members).

Even some of the other members of the Russian Fed Cup team (and a lot of people in Russia) consider her to be an outsider. You could feel the relief in Russia when Myskina became the first Russian woman to win a major singles title. They were afraid Sharapova would beat her to it.

Lastly, she doesn't even pronounce her own name correctly when speaking English. In Russian, it's pronounced "shaRApova," but she mispronounces it the same way most English speakers do: "sharaPOva." I know this sounds unimportant, but if you really think about it, it is a big sign.

I've lived in a few foreign countries for a while, but I've never mispronounced my own name while speaking another language just to sound more like those around me, though I don't mind when others pronounce it the way they would if I was from their country. In fact don't know many people who would say their own names "incorrectly" in that same fashion.

To me, she's an American of Russian origin.

[lauras-serve]

Maria is telling a little white lie (pun intended) by claiming to be Russian. Her parents are from Belarus, aka White Russia. Even though she certainly was born in Russia, she might be able to claim Belorussian citizenship because of her ancestry**. She's Russian simply because she and her parents were on the Russian side of the border when the Soviet Union broke up into Russia and Belarus (and other nations).

** The United States is rather unique in granting birth citizenship to anyone born in its territory. Most countries (probably including Russia) don't grant citizenship to the offspring of non-citizens.

(Hmmm, I wonder if Maria made Prince name her racquet "White" to acknowledge her heritage.)

[Andres]

Originally Posted by lauras-serve

Maria is telling a little white lie (pun intended) by claiming to be Russian. Her parents are from Belarus, aka White Russia. Even though she certainly was born in Russia, she might be able to claim Belorussian citizenship because of her ancestry**. She's Russian simply because she and her parents were on the Russian side of the border when the Soviet Union broke up into Russia and Belarus (and other nations).

** The United States is rather unique in granting birth citizenship to anyone born in its territory. Most countries (probably including Russia) don't grant citizenship to the offspring of non-citizens.

(Hmmm, I wonder if Maria made Prince name her racquet "White" to acknowledge her heritage.)

Most countries in latin america do it too.

[zapvor]

i would say its her fathers decision. he probably feels strongly about his russian roots, so he urged Maria to do the same. my guess is shes indifferent.

[bluetrain4]

It doesn't matter what she feels, or the fact that she speaks English better than Russian. It's a simple matter of citizenship, regardless of where she is geographically or culturally.

Some of the other Russian players already don't like her because she is so Americanized, but that doesn't change the fact of her citizenship.

I believe that for Fed Cup and Davis Cup, you have to be a citizen of the country you represent. I think Mary Pierce held dual citizenship when she played for France.

This situation is not true in all sports. Many countries, especially smaller ones, allow athletes whose parents were/are citizens, or even born in that country to represent the country. The best example I can think of is Felix Sanchez an American track athlete who won the gold in Athens while representing the Dominican Republic, who allowed him to compete because his parents were/are citizens of the DR.

[J-man]

The reason she plays for Russia is because for the plain and simple fact is that she feels Russian, her parents are Russian ect. It's her background. But I can see why you would question her citizenship

Not only that but we have enough baseline bashers playing for America we don't need anymore

[carrwash13]

I think if you train in america then america should get the credit. All the broadcasters talk about how america isn't producing any up and coming talent yet alot of the juniors from other countries are being trained in the U.S. Doesn't make sense. It's like we're baking the cake but the person who sold the raw ingredients is getting all the credit.....(sorry it's lunch time and I'm hungry).

[Swingin Richard]

Originally Posted by zapvor

i would say its her fathers decision. he probably feels strongly about his russian roots, so he urged Maria to do the same. my guess is shes indifferent.

It's definitely Yuri's call. I don't think she does anything on her own, including eat bananas.

[tennis_hand]

well, what's wrong with her being Russian? she has that citizenship and was born there, although she didn't grow up there. Well, unless you were born in one country and grow up in another, you probably will never understand.
And even if she takes up the US citizenship, she probably will also regard herself as a Russian and American. The place where you were born is one part of you. It won't change wherever you go.

[Ripper]

I'm sick of this stupidity. Believe it or not, she doesn't want to be a US citizen. She want's to remain a Russian citizen. Get over it!

[dubsplayer]

Originally Posted by carrwash13

I think if you train in america then america should get the credit. All the broadcasters talk about how america isn't producing any up and coming talent yet alot of the juniors from other countries are being trained in the U.S. Doesn't make sense. It's like we're baking the cake but the person who sold the raw ingredients is getting all the credit.....(sorry it's lunch time and I'm hungry).

That's about the dumbest thing I've ever read.

[Phil]

Originally Posted by carrwash13

I think if you train in america then america should get the credit. All the broadcasters talk about how america isn't producing any up and coming talent yet alot of the juniors from other countries are being trained in the U.S. Doesn't make sense. It's like we're baking the cake but the person who sold the raw ingredients is getting all the credit.....(sorry it's lunch time and I'm hungry).

No, if you're born in a specific country, and want to remain a citizen of that country, then you play for your home country. Where you happen to train doesn't make a bit of difference. Safin trained in Spain, but it would be ridiculous to expect him to play for Spain. The Morroccan players (sorry, can't spell their names) and Baghdatis trained in France...does that mean they should play for France?

Get off your high horse. The US has the training facilities that most other countries can't even dream of...the US doesn't expect these players to play for it (though if they chose to do so, I'm sure they would be welcomed), so why should YOU? We should be able to produce our OWN championship-caliber players, and, for the most part, we do.