Maria Sharapova Engaged: Where Does the New Athlete Couple Rank?
Los Angeles Lakers guard Sasha Vujacic has finally popped the big question to tennis star Maria Sharapova.
With that announcement, 90 percent of the male population slumps into their rooms to wallow in misery for a few days.
Nevertheless, the popular athletic couple now joins the ranks of many famous couples known for their athletic abilities.
Sharapova, in her career as a tennis goddess, has won 22 Women's Tennis Association titles for singles, three for doubles and three Grand Slam titles.
Her fiance Sasha Vujacic is no slacker either. He has helped the Lakers to two NBA titles.
So where does this power couple rank among other athletic couples?
Laura Falcon is a Featured Columnist for the Pittsburgh Penguins and a college writing intern for Bleacher Report. Follow her on Twitter or email her at lfalcon@mail.umw.edu with any comments.
Nomar Garciaparra and Mia Hamm
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For the past seven years, a married Hamm and Garciaparra have established their family in Los Angeles with their twin girls, Grace Isabella and Ava Caroline.
The couple tends to keep their private lives to themselves for the most part, but their athletic careers are anything but private.
Garciaparra is a six-time All Star and Olympian, representing the United States baseball team in 1992. He was also voted the 1997 AL Rookie of the Year and is one of 13 baseball players to hit two grand slams in a single game in Major League history, the only player to do it at home.
Hamm is a three-time Olympian who brought home two golds and a silver. She also led the United States to the first-ever Women's World Cup in 1999, inking her status as one of the greatest and most influential female athletes of all time.
Matt Treanor and Misty May-Treanor
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Love blossomed quickly for these two lovebirds. They met in January of 2004, were engaged in March and married by November of the same year.
Talks of starting a family have budded between the two, but thus far it's just the two of them.
This could be because they hardly see each other.
Treanor currently plays for the Texas Rangers, who are currently battling against the New York Yankees for the American League Championship.
May-Treanor was a well-decorated volleyball player in college but will be most remembered for dominating her professional career. She won the AVP Best Defensive Player for seven consecutive years and Best Offensive Player for 11 consecutive years.
Along with partner Kerri Walsh, May-Treanor won two Olympic gold medals, the only duo to repeat as gold medal champions in beach volleyball.
Laird Hamilton and Gabrielle Reece
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Both finding success in the sports modeling world, Hamilton and Reece prove that you can be beautiful and a great athlete at the same time.
On November 30, 1997, the two tied the knot, but the couple filed for divorce in January 2001. They reconciled a year later and are now happily married with two daughters of their own but are also raising Hamilton's daughter from a previous marriage.
Hamilton is a big-wave surfer and a co-inventor of tow-in surfing. Hamilton didn't believe in the competitiveness of surfing, so he opted to become an innovator in the surfing world.
However, Hamilton will best be known for dropping into a dangerous wave at Tahiti's Teahupo'o Reef, where his ride is considered one of the most dangerous waves ever ridden, thus making him one of the bravest surfers to date.
After graduating and playing on professional volleyball tours, Reece's four-man volleyball team went on to win the first-ever Beach Volleyball World Championship. Reece was the WBVL kills leader from 1993-1996, and she was named the Offensive Player of the Year in 1994-1995, among many other awards.
Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf
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These two tennis stars have seen their fair share of success in their lifetimes and haven't stopped even after retiring from the sport that made them so famous.
They were married October 22, 2001 with only their mothers as witnesses. Four days later, Graf gave birth to their son, Jaden Gil, six weeks prematurely. They also have a daughter, Jaz Elle, who was born two years later.
In singles tennis, Agassi is the only male (of the Open Era) to achieve a Career Super Slam, winning all four Grand Slam tournaments, the Olympic gold medal in singles and the ATP Tour World Championships. His career record in singles is 870-274, and he won an Olympic gold medal in the 1996 Olympics.
Graf won seven singles titles at Wimbledon, six singles titles at the French Open, five singles titles at the US Open and four singles titles at the Australian Open. A three-time Olympian, Graf won gold, silver and bronze in the games. In 56 Grand Slams, she claims the incredible record of 282-34.
A.J. Feeley and Heather Mitts
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This couple is nowhere near as popular as the rest, but it certainly isn't because they're lacking in talent.
Both were heralded as college athletes, Mitts becoming the Florida Gators' all-time record holder in appearances (95), starts (94), and minutes played (7,547) while leading them to their first-ever NCAA Women's Soccer Championship in 1998.
Feeley was a four-year letterman for the Oregon Ducks, and he was nominated for the Davey O'Brien Award as a junior, throwing for 1,951 yards and 14 touchdowns before being sidelined with an injury.
They were married in February 2010.
Feeley currently plays quarterback for the St. Louis Rams, his fourth NFL team.
Mitts plays for the Philadelphia Independence in the Women's Professional Soccer League. Most notably, Mitts is a two-time Olympic gold medalist who has played in over 100 international games representing her country.
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