Standing 6-foot-2, Maria Sharapova could post-up most players on the WTA Tour and the Los Angeles Times reports Sharapova is now playing pick-and-roll with Lakers reserve guard Sasha Vujacic.
L.A. Times Laker beat writer Mike Bresnahan reports the Sharapova and Vujacic, aka "Sashapova", are dating.
"Yes, I'm happy," Vujacic told The L.A. Times. "Everything's good."
Interestingly, Vujacic, cites "tennis" as one of his interests on his player profile page. It is the latest connection between a Laker player and tennis. Laker forward Pau Gasol, a long-time tennis fans, cites fellow Spaniard Rafael Nadal as one of his favorite athletes and the late Lakers Hall of Fame center Wilt Chamberlain was a long-time fan of women's tennis, who frequently attended the US Open. Serena Williams, who owns homes in California and Florida, has attended both Laker and Orlando Magic home games in the past.
Former World No. 1 Sharapova formerly dated Charlie Ebersol, son of NBC Sports Chair Dick Ebersol. It remains to be seen if "Sashapova" will have the staying power of "Brangelina", "TomKat" or "StepSova" (Radek Stepanek and Nicole Vaidisova), but celebrity row at the Staples Center may well be even more entertaining should Sharapova join long-time Laker fans Jack Nicholson, Denzel Washington and Leonardo DiCaprio at home games.
Sharapova and Gisela Dulko hit the court later this month when they face off in a three-city exhibition series that will likely attact both tennis fans and a slew of shutter bugs.
Dulko upset Sharapova in the second round of Wimbledon in June and the three-time Grand Slam champion and Dulko, Argentina's top female player, will renew their rivalry with the inaugural Maria Sharapova South American Tour set for November 29th-December 4th. The tour, which could earn Sharapova nearly $1 million in appearance fees, will also include fashion events, charitable appearances and tennis clinics for local youngsters.
The exhibition series begins on November 29th in Sao Paulo, Brazil. It will move to Santiago Chile on December 2 and then on to Buenos Aires for a match on December 4.
"I'm really excited and so blessed finishing off the season I have a couple of months going into next year," Sharapova told the media in a recent conference call. "Sitting down and looking back into what kind of happened this year, what I achieved personally to get back on the court, play tennis and do what I love, win my title in Tokyo, it was great. It makes you realize that all the hard work you put in for so many months is really worth it at the end of the day. I'm looking forward to the off season. I have a couple of months to train and get ready and build a good base for 2010."
