The news story below is dubious to me for a few reasons:

1. I have no doubt that Maria wants to play tennis and win more Majors

2. Would her unpopular Dad, Yuri, really have a heart-to-heart with Anna Chakvetadze’s dad?

3. It’s from the Daily Express (click here for the story)

But I leave it up to you to decide:

IT’S LOVE ALL FOR SMITTEN MARIA SHARAPOVA

Tuesday February 10,2009

IS TENNIS ace Maria Sharapova’s absence from the tennis circuit due to romance not injury?

The 6ft 2in former Wimbledon champion and world number one no longer obeys her father Yuri and is devoting all her attention to a mystery man.

This is what is claimed by Dzhamal Chakvetadze, father of another Russian tennis player Anna Chakvetadze.

“Maria’s mind is just not set on tennis these days, it’s all set on love,” he told a Moscow newspaper. “I talked to her father Yuri several days ago.

“He’s upset. He’s lost all his influence on his daughter. Maria doesn’t listen to him any more. She is in the middle of a love affair and doesn’t need anyone except for this guy. I understand Yuri’s feelings very well since I have my own daughter of about the same age.”

Last year Sharapova, 21, was linked to American Charlie Ebersol, son of Dick Ebersol, US TV channel NBC Sport’s chairman and president.

Sharapova missed the Australian Open apparently due to the recurrence of a shoulder injury. She was also absent from Russia’s national team clash against China at the weekend.

Russian tennis captain Shamil Tarpischev says: “She’ll be back when she wants to.”

I think there may be a granule of truth that Maria’s rumored love affair, whether it’s with Charlie Ebersol (pictured above) or a new mystery man, may be encouraging her to take her time getting back on court. But that’s not a bad thing – she’s got the kind of injury that you don’t want to stress too soon.

An alternative explanation is that Anna’s dad is just a gossip.

Image via tennisforum via Down the Line

maria, sharapova, Anna Chakvetadze, Charlie Ebersol, love, russian tennis, Yuri Sharapov