Fresh off the presses is news about Maria’s super-lucrative Nike contract:

Former Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova extended her sponsorship agreement with Nike Inc. by eight years for $70 million, said a person with knowledge of the contract.

The deal takes effect this month and includes a line of dresses designed by the former top-ranked tennis player. The 22- year-old will also get a percentage of sales, according to the person, who asked not to be identified because the terms are private. Nike spokesman Derek Kent declined to comment.

Good lawd; that’s a whole lotta money!

Source: Bloomberg

In a joint initiative with the United Nations Development Program, Maria Sharapova has launched a foundation to distribute scholarships among first-year students at Belarusian State University throughout the 2009-2010 academic year. The $3,500 scholarships will be open to Belarus residents attending BSU, who come from areas formally recognized as affected by the Chernobyl nuclear accident.

The Maria Sharapova Foundation scholarships will be distributed to non-fee-paying and fee-paying students, according to the BSU press office. Recipients should actively participate in public, research and volunteer activities, and should have a high average grade in their general education school diplomas. The scholarships can be extended every semester based on reviews of the student’s academic performance. The program is expected to have an initial run of four years, with funds totaling $210,000. Read the rest of this entry »

Maria was upset today in the second round of competition at Wimbledon. Unseeded Gisela Dulko won the match 6-2 3-6 6-4.

Maria is featured on the cover of the new issue of ESPN Magazine.

After her impressive return to competition at the French Open, Maria Sharapova took on another challenge – editing ESPN The Magazine’s third-annual Revenge of the Jocks issue. In the current issue of The Mag, on newsstands today, Sharapova details how she would fix women’s tennis, and shows readers what she did while rehabbing her shoulder for eight months. In addition, she dispenses life advice to fellow jocks, and gives a NFL-caliber makeover to rookie QB Matthew Stafford.

I got mine in the mail today!

In Wimbledon news, the draw came out today and Maria will take on Ukraine qualifier Viktoriya Kutuzova.

After her impressive run to the French Open quarterfinal round, Maria Sharapova has been rewarded with the 24th seed for The Championships at Wimbledon, which begin Monday.

The draws will be released in a couple of days, so check back for who Maria will meet in the 1st round.

While in London, Maria also took some time to unveil a dress designed by a London College of Fashion fashion student. See below:

Maria is already preparing for Wimbledon, playing in the Aegon Classic in Birmingham. She’s already completed her first round match and collected a win in 6-4, 6-2 against Stephanie Dubois.

Also, after successfully making it to the French Open Quarterfinals, her ranking has jumped 29 places to 73!

To help her prepare for the US Open, Maria will play the Bank of the West Classic, held on the beautiful campus of Stanford University. The tournament runs July 27-Aug. 2 in Palo Alto, CA.

The Williams sisters, as well as Top 10 players Elena Dementieva and Jelena Jankovic will also compete.

Find more info at www.bankofthewestclassic.com.

Also, Forbes Magazine has released their annual celebrity Power List, known as “The Celebrity 100″, and Maria comes in at #76. She is the second ranked female athlete and tennis player, behind Serena Williams at #67. Venus Williams sits at #77 while Serbia’s Ana Ivanovic comes in at #90. The only female athlete ranked that wasn’t from the tennis realm was Danica Patrick, who closed out the list at #100.

Maria’s run to another Grand Slam title ended today with a 6-0, 6-2 loss to Dominika Cibulkova in the quarterfinals.

“I always say you’re only as good as your last tournament. Reflecting back on everything that I’ve been through in the last year, I think I can sit here and say I’m pretty proud of what I’ve achieved, not only in this tournament, but in that whole time.

“I’ve just got to keep working and keep my head up. The only thing I can do is just work on the things that I feel I need to improve and keep getting better.”

Considering this is her first Slam since her injury, I’d say this was a very successful return for Maria. She will play at Wimbledon later this month.

Maria’s grand slam comeback tour continues through to the Quarters. She beat China’s Li Na 6-4, 0-6, 6-4 in another 3-set battle.

She will meet Dominika Cibulkova in the next round.

Maria’s grand slam comeback is going well so far! She’s won her 1st three matches at Roland Garros and heads into the 4th round after defeating Yaroslava Shvedova 1-6, 6-3, 6-4.

In the next round, she will face China’s Na Li, who is the 25th seed.