Sharapova is Engaged to LA Lakers Player

Written by: Staff on 22nd October 2010

Sharapova is Engaged to LA Lakers Player |

When Maria Sharapova won the last of her three majors at the 2008 Australian Open nearly three years ago she insisted there was no chance of her playing on towards her 30th birthday and insisted she hoped to have a “nice husband and a few kids” by then. With confirmation of her engagement to Los Angeles Lakers basketball player Sasha Vujacic, it seems her days on the WTA Tour could be numbered.

Although she has not been ranked in the world’s top ten for two years and has won just two relatively minor titles this year in Memphis and Strasbourg, 23 year-old Sharapova remains the most marketable property in female tennis. In January she signed an eight-year Nike contract, worth $70 million and two months ago Forbes magazine named her the world’s highest-paid female athlete with an annual worth of $24.5m.

A prolonged foot injury means Sharapova has played only three matches and registered a solitary victory since losing in the fourth round of the US Open to world no.1 Caroline Wozniacki. Two weeks ago after losing to Elena Vesnina in Beijing, Sharapova intimated she would not play again this year.

Now Vujacic, largely a fixture on the NBA championship winning Lakers’ bench, has revealed Sharapova accepted his proposal of marriage. “We are engaged and are both really happy,” Vujacic said Thursday night before the Lakers’ exhibition game against Golden State. “It’s good and now we can focus on other things.”

Sharapova’s IMG agent Max Eisenbud confirmed the news in an email to the Associated Press.

Vujacic said he proposed on the one-year anniversary of their first meeting at a friend’s barbecue. “It’s was probably old school,” he said, adding that as yet a wedding date hasn’t been set. “I had to do it like a gentleman.”

Topics: 30th Birthday, Australian Open, Basketball Player, Caroline Wozniacki, Contract Worth, Elena Vesnina, Exhibition Game, Female Tennis, Foot Injury, Forbes Magazine, Golden State, Highest Paid Female Athlete, La Lakers, Lakers Basketball, Los Angeles Lakers, Maria Sharapova, Max Eisenbud, Nba Championship, Nba Lakers, Nike Contract, Proposal Of Marriage, Wta Tour