Tennis whiz Maria Sharapova showed off the giant engagement ring LA Laker Sasha Vujacic gave her while walking through Venice Beach this weekend.



Their relationship is solid as a rock.

Los Angeles Laker Sasha Vujacic just locked down tennis hottie Maria Sharapova ... proposing marriage to her with a massive engagement rock to rival any Lakers championship ring.


Sources tell TMZ the pair -- who were first spotted holding hands about a year ago -- got engaged Tuesday after Sasha popped the question at his home in Manhattan Beach, CA.

Maria's already been spotted out wearing the ring -- we've seen it and trust us ... even Vanessa Bryant would be impressed by the future Mrs. Vujacic's ginormous diamond.

In completely unrelated news ... Sasha's been on the Lakers' bench recovering from a concussion.

Tennis babe Maria Sharapova and her Lakers boyfriend Sasha Vujacic like making things difficult for themselves.

Maria Sharapova has three Grand Slam tennis titles under her belt ... and the guy she's holding hands with -- L.A. Laker Sasha Vujacic -- is wearing a brand new NBA championship ring.


If the 6'2" and 6'7" athletes -- who were spotted walking around L.A. today -- ever have a kid ... doctors will have to have a "No sports agents allowed" rule in the delivery room.

Rob Zombie's got a secret weapon for getting paparazzi off his back -- The Hoff!

TMZ caught the rocker-turned-horror-movie-director trying to fend off photogs outside Il Sole last night. After telling our camera that he didn't "have anything exciting planned," Zombie said the real story would be a shot of who was inside -- joking that David Hasselhoff was in the restaurant getting "tanked." KITT was not parked with the valet.

Also in L.A.: Tennis vixen Maria Sharapova was spotted leaving Mr. Chow, David Weintraub hit up Parc and 18-year-old celebuspawn Rumer Willis snuck out the back door of Hyde.

It was ladies night in NYC -- with Lindsay Lohan partying after her "Georgia Rule" premiere, and the Olsen twins, Kate Moss and Amy Winehouse heading to the Gramercy Park Hotel. The original Fergie, Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, was also caught last night in New York, and Hayden Panettiere was out late with her jailbait friends.

All this and more in today's Wimbledon-worthy edition of Star Catcher.

Tennis temptress Maria Sharapova was on set for a Vogue photo shoot yesterday -- and she was not happy to be there. We're told she didn't even crack a smile -- until the paparazzi showed up!

Our TMZ spy at the shoot in Venice, Calif., tells us that the cranky ace was rude to the crew, wouldn't eat the pricey catered food and insisted on In-N-Out instead. Can't blame her there. But when paparazzi appeared, the court queen quickly flipped her bitch switch to off. Still grumpy over her loss to Serena, perhaps?

Calls to her reps were not immediately returned

Didn't Joaquin Phoenix have a different name before?

Yes, Ivette, Joaquin used to answer to another name -- Leaf! But it was not his birth name. He has always been Joaquin, but used the alias Leaf as a child and as a young actor. Around 1989, he dropped that name and returned to Joaquin.

That said, Joaquin will next be seen in "We Own the Night" with Mark Wahlberg, Robert Duvall and Eva Mendes. He will also star with Mark Ruffalo and Jennifer Connelly in the thriller "Reservation Road." Expect both flicks out next year.

For all things Joaquin, click here.

Wasn't Patricia Heaton supposed to get a TV show?

Sal, everybody's favorite Barone is indeed supposed to continue on with her television career. "The Path to 9/11" is a mini-series documenting the events which lead up to the tragic event. She can be seen here along with Donnie Wahlberg and Harvey Keitel on September 10 and 11 on ABC at 8/7c.

Her comedy pilot, however, did not get picked up, but, according to ABC president Stephen McPherson, it could be considered for a midseason replacement.

To read more about previous co-star Brad Garrett's show, click here.

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Thursday in Madrid, tennis superstar Maria Sharapova personally picked seven male models to be her ball boys at the Sony Ericsson Championship on the WTA Tour. Fifteen hot models showed up hoping to make the final cut. Maria ran them through the ringer, testing the young gents on tennis rules, history, and typical ball boy duties.

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