Maria Sharapova Overtaken by Eugenie Bouchard in Poll of Sexiest Women in Tennis
Maria Sharapova is still one of the hottest tennis players on the WTA tour, but an emerging star is already stealing some of the thunder from her.
In a poll conducted by Tennis Tonic, Eugenie Bouchard has already leapfrogged Sharapova and now checked in at no.2 in the rankings with 23 percent of total votes. Ana Ivanovic is still the hottest female player on tour by garnering 36 percent, while Agnieska Radwanks, who posed naked in ESPN Body two years ago, got 16 percent of the votes.
Sharapova and another European hottie Daniela Hantuchova rounded out the top-5 by getting 8 percent and 7 percent, respectively.
The 20-year old Bouchard is having a successful season on and off the court, appearing in all Grand Slam semifinals so far and getting endorsements deals from multinational companies such as Coca-Cola and Nike.
The Wimbledon Open runner-up has recently appeared on the cover of Elle Quebec, and many analysts believed the Canadian darling is poised to grow her brand in the coming years, as she continues to gain success on the floor.
Coming off her first Grand Slam final, Bouchard heads into the US Open hard-court season with tremendous momentum. She recently withdrew from Citi Open in Washington, but she's expected to play in Montreal for the Rogers Cup.
Meanwhile, Sharapova has been training hard for the upcoming US Open series. The Russian siren will try to have a strong result this time around after missing the 2013 US Open with an injured shoulder. Prior to that, Sharapova had a string of early round eliminations in Flushing Meadows before reaching the semis in the 2012 US Open.
There are speculations the Russian and her boyfriend Grigor Dimitrov will finally play as a pair in the mixed doubles event of the hard-court Grand Slam tournament. Dimitrov, who reached his first Grand Slam semis in Wimbledon, ignited the rumors by wishing to play with her girl in a question and answer session on Twitter.
"If you could play doubles and mixed doubles with any player, who would be your two picks? #askGrigor." As expected, Dimitrov's reply was spontaneous and instant: "I'd play with John McEnroe and @MariaSharapova," via Tennis Earth.
Sharapova recently confirmed her participation in the inaugural Tennis Premier League in November. It was announced that she and Andy Murray are going to play for the Manila Maverick.