Maria Sharapova plans to change her surname to ‘Sugarpova’ for the duration of the upcoming tennis Grand Slam, the US Open.
Former world number one Sharapova, the current richest female athlete in the world, has lodged an enquiry with the Supreme Court of Florida over a ‘quickie’ name change, which would then be changed back after the tournament concludes.
The idea, a publicity stunt for her outside business venture of branded candy, will reportedly also involve her sporting the ‘Sugarpova’ emblem – a striking pair of red lips – on her attire at Flushing Meadows.
The quite bizarre marketing move by Sharapova and her management company IMG looks likely to go ahead, too: there are no apparent legal barriers standing in her way.
Nonetheless, even with legal blessing she would likely also need the permission of the Grand Slam committee in order to see the thing all the way through, which would mean having stadium announcers, the umpire and even the scorecards address her as ‘Miss Sugarpova’ or ‘M. Sugarpova’.
Sharapova founded the company with her own money and it is estimated that 1.8 million bags of the sweets – which come with labels such as ‘flirty’, ‘sassy’ and ‘smitten’ – were sold worldwide last year.
The 2013 US Open begins on Monday and runs until September 9. Sharapova won the Grand Slam in 2006.
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