Sybel Boss-Ayme's Yoga Students In The News

The New Paper - 23 Jan 2005

The rise of Maria Sharapova


RUSSIAN girl Maria Sharapova has conquered the world of tennis. Nature has showered her with beauty, long legs, an incredible capacity for work and a huge sports potential.

Anna Kournikova has been considered the central sex symbol of sports in recent years. Kournikova has made it possible to raise the popularity of women's sports.

Foreigners may not know the Russian president's first name, but everybody knows Kournikova's name.

Kournikova became that famous because of the efforts of the promotion company Octagon.

The fame of the Anna Kournikova (right) brand was a thorn in the side of the management company IMG. The company's head Mark McCormack was desperately looking for a young girl, of whom he would make a global megastar.

He was strongly against all Russian candidates, the girl was supposed to be only an American. Time was passing by, but the US could not give McCormack a good, appropriate girl. The new tennis star, Sharapova, could meet all the requirements: She has talent, beauty and she knows what it is to work hard.

It took McCormack really long to approve the Russian girl for the vacancy. IMG took hold of Sharapova and the project 'Maria Sharapova, the Superstar' was launched. In about a year, the Russian tennis player will become the world's highest paid athlete, making up to US$100 million ($16.3m) every year.

When Sharapova made her first appearance in a professional tournament, the president of the Russian tennis association Shamil Tarpischev said: 'This would be a lot better than Kournikova.'

PROFESSIONAL

He said it right. The young Russian girl started realising her working capacity from the very first moment, when she came to the world of professional sport. She became the world champion and the Wimbledon winner at the age of 17. IMG agents are taking great care of Sharapova: The Siberian girl will help them earn millions of dollars.

If someone still thinks that Sharapova is a 17-year-old fighter, who goes out on a tennis court and beats all tennis celebrities like Anastasia Myskina, Serena Williams or Lindsay Davenport, this person is definitely wrong to think so. Research institutes and health clinics take care of Sharapova 24 hours a day.

It was Robert Lansdorp, the 'father' of Pate Sampras and Davenport, who gave a start to Sharapova's career in 1998. He offered the following scheme to her agents. The girl was supposed to go to California for two weeks, then she would go to study at Bradenton Academy for two or three weeks, and return to California again. Sharapova started that practice until she turned 14.

Playing football was her favourite exercise. Lansdorp said he saw that Sharapova had a so-called sense of the court.

'It was not her style to make mistakes,' said Lansdorp.

Yoga specialist Sybel Boss started teaching Sharapova the art of yoga three years ago. According to the instructor, she decided to make yoga a part of her life.

'The practice of yoga helped her become more flexible and liberated,' Boss said. 'When Maria won Wimbledon, she fell to the ground and raised her arms towards the sky - it is called the hero position,' he added.

When Sharapova became a star, paparazzi started chasing after her. A US$300,000 reward was promised to the first paparazzi who would take a nude shot of the girl. If a photographer captures Sharapova with her boyfriend, the reward will be a lot higher. - Wire services.

Copyright © 2004 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

Other articles about Sybel's Yoga:
Fruit of the Spirit

Sybel Boss | About Sybel | Yoga Athlete Testimonials | Sybel's Yoga DVD |Sybel's Students in the News | Sitemap
phone: 941-504-1462 | email: sybel at yadalife.com | design: innovativeimpulses.com | marketing: sozo firm