Maria Sharapova
Encyclopedia
Maria Yuryevna Sharapova ,mɐˈrʲijə ˈjurʲjɪvnə ʂɐˈrapəvə. (born April 19, 1987) is a Russian professional tennis player and a former world no. 1. A US resident since 1994, Sharapova has won 24 WTA
singles titles, including three Grand Slam
singles titles at the 2004 Wimbledon, 2006 US Open and 2008 Australian Open
. She has also won the year-end WTA Tour Championships in 2004
.
The Women's Tennis Association
(WTA) has ranked Sharapova world no. 1 in singles on four separate occasions. She became the world no. 1 for the first time on August 22, 2005, and last regained this ranking for the fourth time on May 19, 2008. As of November, 2011 Sharapova is ranked world no. 4. She has been in five Grand Slam finals with the final record 3–2.
Sharapova made her professional breakthrough in 2004 when, at age 17, she defeated two-time defending champion and top seed Serena Williams
in the 2004 Wimbledon final for her first Grand Slam
singles title. She entered the top 10 of the WTA Rankings with this win. Despite not winning a major in 2005, Sharapova briefly held the no. 1 ranking, and reached three Grand Slam
semifinals, losing to the eventual champion each time. She won her second major at the 2006 US Open defeating then-world no. 1 Amélie Mauresmo
in the semifinals and world no. 2 Justine Henin in the final. Sharapova's 2007 season was plagued with a chronic shoulder injury and saw her ranking fall out of the top 5 for the first time in two years. She ultimately won her third Grand Slam
at the 2008 Australian Open
, defeating Henin in the quarterfinals and Ana Ivanović
in the final. After reclaiming the no. 1 ranking in May 2008, Sharapova's shoulder problems re-surfaced, ultimately requiring surgery in October and forcing her out of the game for nearly 10 months. Sharapova returned in May 2009 and was ranked no. 126 in the world due to her extensive lay-off. Since her comeback, Sharapova has won five singles titles (bringing her career total to 24) and improved her ranking to the world no. 2.
Sharapova's public profile extends beyond tennis, as she has been featured in a number of modeling assignments, including a feature in Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue
. She has been featured in many advertisements, including those for Nike, Prince and Canon, and is the face of several fashion houses, most notably Cole Haan. Sharapova was the most searched-for athlete on Yahoo! in both 2005 and 2008. Since February 2007, she has been a United Nations Development Programme Goodwill Ambassador, concerned specifically with the Chernobyl Recovery and Development Programme.
In June 2011, she was named one of the "30 Legends of Women's Tennis: Past, Present and Future" by Time
.
is the root of Sharapova's parents Yury and Yelena. They left their homeland after the Chernobyl nuclear accident
in 1986 affected the region, right before Sharapova was born. When Sharapova was two, the family moved to Sochi
, where her father befriended Aleksandr Kafelnikov, whose son Yevgeny
would go on to win two Grand Slam singles titles and became Russia's first ever world no. 1 tennis player. Aleksandr gave Sharapova her first tennis racket at the age of four, whereupon she began practicing regularly with her father at a local park. She took her first tennis lessons with veteran Russian coach Yuri Yutkin, who was instantly impressed when he first saw her play, noting her "exceptional hand-eye co-ordination."
At the age of seven, Sharapova attended a tennis clinic in Moscow run by Martina Navrátilová, who recommended professional training at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy
in Florida, which had previously trained players such as Andre Agassi
, Monica Seles
, and Anna Kournikova
. With money tight, Yuri was forced to borrow the sum that would allow him and his daughter, neither of whom could speak English, to travel to United States, which they finally did in 1994. Visa restrictions prevented Sharapova's mother from joining them for two years. Arriving in Florida with savings of US$700, Sharapova's father took various low-paying jobs, including dish-washing, to fund her lessons until she was old enough to be admitted to the academy. In 1995, she was signed by IMG
, who agreed to pay the annual tuition fee of $35,000 for Sharapova to stay at the academy, allowing her to finally enroll at the age of 9.
. Due to restrictions on how many professional events she could play, Sharapova went to hone her game in junior tournaments, where she reached the finals of the Australian Open and Wimbledon in 2002. She was the youngest girl ever to reach the final of the Australian Open junior championship at 14 years and 9 months.
From 2003, Sharapova played a full season, and made a rapid climb into the top 50 by the end of the year. She made her debuts at both the Australian Open and the French Open, but failed to win a match in either. It was not until the grass season that she began to fulfill her promise, beating a top-20 player for the first time and reaching her first semifinal at the WTA level. Then, as a wildcard at Wimbledon
, she defeated 11th seed Jelena Dokić
to reach the fourth round, where she lost in three sets to Svetlana Kuznetsova
.
By the end of September, Sharapova had already captured her first WTA title at a smaller event, the Japan Open Tennis Championships
, before winning her second in her final tournament of the season, the Bell Challenge
. To cap off her first full season as a professional, she was awarded the WTA Newcomer of the Year honor.
by seventh seed Anastasia Myskina
. The highlight of the remainder of her spring hard-court season was a run to the semifinals at the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships and the Cellular South Cup
, where she ultimately lost to Vera Zvonareva
.
During the spring clay-court season, Sharapova entered the top 20 on the WTA world rankings as a result of reaching the third round of the Qatar Telecom German Open
and the Internazionali BNL d'Italia, both of which were Tier I events. At the latter event, she defeated a player ranked in the top 10 for the first time with a straight-sets win over world no. 10 Elena Dementieva
. Later that clay-court season, she went on to make the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam for the first time at the French Open
, losing there to Paola Suárez
.
Sharapova won the third title of her career at the Wimbledon
warm-up DFS Classic
, defeating Tatiana Golovin
in the final. Seeded 13th and aged 17 at Wimbledon, she reached her first Grand Slam semifinal by defeating Ai Sugiyama
. There, she came back from a 6–2, 3–1 deficit to defeat fifth seed and former champion Lindsay Davenport
. In the final, Sharapova upset top seed and defending champion Serena Williams
to win her first Grand Slam singles title, and become the third youngest woman to win the Wimbledon title, behind only Lottie Dod
and Martina Hingis
. Sharapova also became the second Russian woman (after Anastasia Myskina
had won the year's previous major at Roland Garros) to win a Grand Slam singles title. The victory was hailed by the media as "the most stunning upset in memory", with other writers commenting on her arrival as a serious challenger to the Williams'
dominance at Wimbledon. She entered the top 10 in the rankings for the first time as a result of the win.
Following her Wimbledon win, attention and interest in Sharapova in the media greatly increased, a rise in popularity dubbed as "Maria Mania." However, on court, she was struggling to achieve results, winning just three of six matches in her preparations for the US Open. At the US Open itself, she reached the third round, before being eliminated by Mary Pierce
. In order to regain confidence, Sharapova played and won consecutive titles in Asia in the fall, the Hansol Korea Open Tennis Championships
and the Japan Open Tennis Championships
.
In October, Sharapova defeated Venus Williams
en route to making the final of a Tier I event for the first time at the Zurich Open
, losing in the final to Alicia Molik
. She then made her debut at the year-ending WTA Tour Championships
. There, she won two of her three round-robin matches (including a win over US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova
) in order to advance to the semifinals, where she defeated Myskina. In the final, she defeated Serena Williams
, 4–6, 6–2, 6–4, after trailing 4–0 in the final set.
Sharapova started the year at the Australian Open
, where she defeated fifth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova
to reach the second Grand Slam semifinal of her career. Sharapova held match points in the third set of her semifinal match, before losing to eventual champion Serena Williams
. In February, Sharapova won back-to-back tournaments, the Toray Pan Pacific Open
and the Qatar Total Open
, allowing her to reach the top 3 in the world rankings for the first time.
In the semifinals of the Tier I Pacific Life Open, Sharapova was defeated by Lindsay Davenport
, 0-6, 0-6, the first time she had failed to win a game in a match. The following fortnight, she defeated former world no. 1 players Justine Henin and Venus Williams
to reach the final at the Tier I NASDAQ-100 Open, where she lost to Kim Clijsters
.
Sharapova made the semifinals of a clay-court tournament for the first time at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia, where she lost to Patty Schnyder
. Sharapova would have become world no. 1 for the first time had she won the tournament. Sharapova then reached the quarterfinals of the French Open
for the second consecutive year, before losing to eventual champion Henin. On grass, Sharapova won her third title of the year when she successfully defended her title at the DFS Classic
, defeating Jelena Janković
in the final. As the defending champion at Wimbledon
, Sharapova reached the semifinals without dropping a set and losing a service game just once, extending her winning streak on grass to 24 matches. However, she was then beaten by eventual champion Venus Williams
.
A back injury sustained by world no. 1 Davenport at Wimbledon prevented her from playing tournaments during the summer hard-court season, which meant she could not earn new ranking points to replace those that were expiring from the previous year. Sharapova, although also injured for much of this time, had far fewer points to defend, and so she became the first Russian woman to hold the world no. 1 ranking on August 22, 2005. Her reign lasted only one week, however, as Davenport reclaimed the top ranking after winning the Pilot Pen Tennis
tournament.
As the top seed at the US Open, Sharapova lost in the semifinals to Kim Clijsters
, meaning she had lost to the eventual champion in every Grand Slam of the season. However, she once again leapfrogged Davenport to take the world no. 1 ranking on September 12, 2005. She retained it for six weeks, but after playing few tournaments while injured, she again relinquished the ranking to Davenport. To conclude the year, Sharapova failed to defend her title at the year-end Sony Ericsson Championships, defeating Davenport in one of her round-robin matches, but ultimately losing in the semifinals to eventual champion Amélie Mauresmo
.
in three sets to Henin, also losing a rematch several weeks later at the Dubai Tennis Championships
, having defeated former world no. 1 Martina Hingis
and world no. 3 Lindsay Davenport
in earlier rounds of the tournament. Sharapova claimed her first title in nine months at the Tier I tournament in Indian Wells, defeating Hingis in the semifinals and Elena Dementieva
in the final. The following fortnight, she reached the final in Miami before losing to Kuznetsova.
Missing the entire clay-court season with injury, Sharapova returned for the French Open
. There, after saving match points in defeating Mashona Washington
in the first round, she was eliminated by Dinara Safina
in the fourth round.
On grass, Sharapova was unsuccessful in her attempt to win in Birmingham for the third consecutive year, losing in the semifinals to Jamea Jackson
. Despite that, she was among the title favorites at Wimbledon, where the eventual champion Mauresmo ended up beating her in the semifinals.
Sharapova claimed her second title of the year at the Tier I Acura Classic, defeating Clijsters for the first time in the final. As the third seed at the US Open, Sharapova defeated top seed Mauresmo for the first time in the semifinals, and then followed up by beating second seed Justine Henin in order to win her second Grand Slam singles title.
That autumn, Sharapova won titles in back-to-back weeks at the Zurich Open
and the Generali Ladies Linz
. By winning all three of her round-robin matches at the WTA Tour Championships, she extended her win streak to 19 matches, before it was snapped in the semifinals by eventual champion Henin. Sharapova would have finished the season as world no. 1 had she won the event. As it was, she finished ranked world no. 2, her best finish at the end of a year yet.
Sharapova was the top seed at the Australian Open
due to top-ranked Justine Henin's withdrawal. After being two points away from defeat in the first round against Camille Pin
, rallying for a 6–3, 4–6, 9–7 victory, she went on to reach the final of the tournament for the first time, but was routed there by Serena Williams
, 1–6, 2–6, ranked world no. 81 at the time. By reaching the final, Sharapova recaptured the world no. 1 ranking. She held it for seven weeks, surrendering it back to Henin after failing to defend her title at the Pacific Life Open, instead losing in the fourth round to Vera Zvonareva
after struggling with a hamstring injury. The following fortnight, she defeated Venus Williams
in the third round of the Sony Ericsson Open, before suffering another defeat, 1–6, 1–6, to Serena Williams
.
A shoulder injury forced Sharapova to miss most of the clay-court season for the second consecutive year, resulting in her only tune-up for the French Open
being the Istanbul Cup
, where she lost in the semifinals to Aravane Rezaï. Despite her lack of preparation, she reached the semifinals of the French Open for the first time in her career (having saved match points against Patty Schnyder
in the fourth round), before losing to Ana Ivanović
.
On grass, Sharapova was runner-up to Jelena Janković
at the DFS Classic
. Following that, she experienced her earliest Wimbledon loss since 2003 by losing in the fourth round to eventual champion Venus Williams
.
Sharapova clinched the US Open Series by defending her title at the Acura Classic, her only championship of the year, and reaching the semifinals in Los Angeles. In her US Open
title defense, Sharapova lost her third round match to 30th seed Agnieszka Radwańska
, her earliest exit at a Grand Slam singles tournament since the 2004 US Open, where she lost in the same round.
Following the US Open loss, Sharapova did not play again until the Kremlin Cup
in October, where she lost her opening match to Victoria Azarenka
. Shortly after this, she fell out of the top 5 in the world rankings for the first time since 2004. She qualified for the eight-woman year-end Sony Ericsson Championships
only because Venus Williams
withdrew from the tournament. Despite having not previously won a match in two months, Sharapova topped her round-robin group at the tournament, after winning all three of her matches, defeating Svetlana Kuznetsova
and Ana Ivanović
. She then defeated Anna Chakvetadze
in the semifinals. In the final, she lost to world no. 1 Henin in a match that lasted 3 hours and 24 minutes.
, but was not considered a favorite. Nevertheless, she defeated former world no. 1 Lindsay Davenport
in the second round, and then world no. 1 Henin in the quarterfinals, ending the latter's 32-match winning streak. She proceeded to the finals by defeating Jelena Janković
in the semifinals, where she defeated Ana Ivanović
to win her third Grand Slam title, having not dropped a set all tournament.
After the Australian Open, Sharapova extended her winning streak to 18 matches. This run encompassed two wins in singles rubbers when making her debut for Russia
in the Fed Cup
against Israel
and victory at the Tier I Qatar Total Open
. Her winning streak was ended in the semifinals of the Pacific Life Open by Kuznetsova. In April, Sharapova won the Bausch & Lomb Championships
, having survived her longest-ever match, at 3 hours and 26 minutes long, in the third round against Anabel Medina Garrigues
. The following week, at the Family Circle Cup
, she lost in the quarterfinals to Serena Williams
, her fourth consecutive loss to the American.
In May, Sharapova regained the world no. 1 ranking because of Henin's sudden retirement from professional tennis and request to the WTA
that her own ranking be removed immediately. As the top-seeded player at the French Open
Sharapova was within two points of being knocked out by Evgeniya Rodina
in the first round, before eventually winning. As a result of losing to Dinara Safina
in the fourth round, she relinquished her no. 1 ranking. Her dip in form continued at Wimbledon, where she lost in the second round to world no. 154 Alla Kudryavtseva
. This was her earliest loss ever at Wimbledon, and at any Grand Slam in almost five years.
Sharapova withdrew from the Rogers Cup tournament in August due to a shoulder injury. An MRI
scan revealed that she had been suffering from a rotator cuff tear
since April, forcing her out of all tournaments for the rest of the season, including the Beijing Olympics
, the US Open, and the WTA Tour Championships
. In spite of that, she still finished the year ranked world no. 9. In October, after a failed attempt to rehabilitate the shoulder, Sharapova had surgery to repair the tear.
title, as she continued to recover from surgery. She returned to the sport in March, in the doubles tournament at the BNP Paribas Open, but she and partner Elena Vesnina
lost in the first round. After this, Sharapova withdrew from further singles tournaments, resulting in her standing in the world rankings being severely affected. She dropped out of the top 100 for the first time in six years in May, the nadir being world no. 126.
Playing her first singles tournament in nearly ten months, Sharapova made the quarterfinals of the clay-court Warsaw Open
in May, being beaten by Alona Bondarenko. The following week, in the first Grand Slam appearance since her surgery, she reached the quarterfinals of the French Open, before her run was ended by Dominika Cibulková
.
During the summer grass-court season playing in Birmingham, losing in the semifinals. Sharapova then played at the 2009 Wimbledon Championships
as the 24th seed. She was upset in the second round by Gisela Dulko
in three sets.
Sharapova enjoyed considerable success in the summer months, reaching the quarterfinals at the Bank of the West Classic
, the semifinals at the LA Women's Tennis Championships
, and finishing runner-up at the Rogers Cup
to Elena Dementieva
. Nevertheless, she was dealt her second straight early exit at the final Grand Slam of the year, losing to Melanie Oudin
at the US Open
, while committing 60 unforced errors and a personal-record 21 double faults.
The final stretch of the season brought Sharapova her first title of the year in Tokyo
, after opponent Jelena Janković
retired after being down 2–5 to Sharapova in the final. By virtue of that result, she was the recipient of a bye at the China Open
, but failed to use it to her advantage, losing to Peng Shuai
in the third round. She ultimately finished the season at no. 14, having improved from no. 126 when she started her return.
, where she was upset in her first-round match against Maria Kirilenko
. The loss meant that for the first time since 2003, Sharapova had lost her opening match at a Grand Slam event. She then rebounded by winning a smaller American event, the Cellular South Cup
, her 21st career WTA title and first of the year.
At the BNP Paribas Open
, Sharapova lost in the third round to Zheng Jie
, aggravating a bruised bone on her right elbow in the process, which resulted in her eventual withdrawal from the Sony Ericsson Open
and the Family Circle Cup
.
Returning at the 2010 Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open
, Sharapova lost in the first round to Lucie Šafářová
. She continued her French Open preparation at the Internationaux de Strasbourg
as a wildcard, advancing to the final, where she beat Kristina Barrois
. This was her first title on red clay and 22nd overall title. At the French Open
, Sharapova's brief clay season culminated with a third-round loss to four-time champion Justine Henin.
Sharapova began her preparations for Wimbledon at the AEGON Classic
. She advanced to the final for the fourth time, where she lost to Li Na
. As the 16th seed at Wimbledon
, Sharapova lost in the fourth round to world no. 1 and eventual champion Serena Williams
, 6-7(9), 4-6, despite having three set points in the opening set. The match was seen as another encouraging performance for Sharapova, with some stating their belief that she was approaching the form that would see her contending for Grand Slams once more, and Sharapova herself that stating she felt that she was "in a much better spot than I was last year."
During the US Open Series, Sharapova made two straight finals, losing to Victoria Azarenka
at the Bank of the West Classic, and to Kim Clijsters
at the Western & Southern Financial Group Women's Open
. In the latter match, Sharapova held three match points while leading 5–3 on Clijsters's serve late in the second set, but could not convert them.
At the U.S. Open
, Sharapova was the 14th seed. She made it to the fourth round, where she played top seed Caroline Wozniacki
and lost, 3-6, 4-6.
Sharapova's last two tournaments of the season ended in disappointment. She played in the Toray Pan Pacific Open
in Tokyo, where she was upset in the first round by 39-year-old Kimiko Date Krumm. Her last tournament of the year was the China Open
, where she lost in the second round to fellow Russian Elena Vesnina
. Days later, she announced the end of her 2010 season. She ended the year at number 18 in the world.
in Monterrey, Mexico. She won the match, 6–1, 7–5.
Sharapova confirmed that her first tournament of the year would be at the 2011 ASB Classic
in Auckland, New Zealand, held from January 4 to 9. She also announced that she would be leading the Russia Fed Cup team
against France
in February in their first-round tie.
In Sharapova's first ever official Australian Open warm-up tournament at the 2011 ASB Classic
in Auckland, New Zealand, she was seeded first. She was defeated in the quarterfinals by the Hungarian veteran and eventual champion Gréta Arn
, 2–6, 5–7. After the ASB Classic Sharapova decided to take a hiatus from Joyce's coaching, despite having worked together for a number of years, including during her successful years where she became a multiple Grand Slam champion.
Sharapova participated in the first Grand Slam of the season at the Australian Open, where she was the 14th seeded player. She made it to the fourth round, where she lost to Andrea Petkovic
, 2–6, 3–6.
Sharapova's next appearance was at the 2011 Fed Cup
tie against France, which she lost to Virginie Razzano
, 3–6, 4–6. She then withdrew from the 2011 Open GDF Suez
in Paris because of viral illness. She also had to pull out of the 2011 Dubai Tennis Championships
and 2011 Qatar Ladies Open
due to an ear infection.
Sharapova returned to the tour in March by taking part in the first premier mandatory tournament of the year, the 2011 BNP Paribas Open
, where she was seeded 16th. She lost in the semifinal to world no. 1 Caroline Wozniacki
, 1–6, 2–6. With this result, Sharapova returned to the top 10 for the first time since February, 2009.
Sharapova's next tournament was the second premier mandatory tournament, the 2011 Sony Ericsson Open
in Key Biscayne, Miami. Seeded 16th, she defeated 26th seed Alexandra Dulgheru
in the quarterfinals in a match that lasted 3 hours and 28 minutes, the longest match of her career, and though twisting her left ankle while serving at 5–5 in the third set, she won, 3–6, 7–6(6), 7–6(5). In the semifinals, she defeated Andrea Petkovic
, 3–6, 6–0, 6–2. In the final, her shaky and error-prone form resulted in a loss to Victoria Azarenka
, 1–6, 4–6, despite a late comeback in the second set.
Because of Sharapova's refusal of her wildcard offer to the 2011 Family Circle Cup
, her clay season was scheduled to begin at the third premier mandatory tournament at the 2011 Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open, where she was seeded 8th. She lost to Dominika Cibulková
, 5–7, 4–6, in the third round.
Sharapova's next tournament was the 2011 Internazionali BNL d'Italia
, where she was seeded seventh. She defeated world no. 7 Samantha Stosur
, 6–2, 6–4, to take home the title, marking her biggest clay-court victory to date. With this, Sharapova overtakes Stosur as the World No. 7, her highest position since November, 2008.
Sharapova's next tournament was the 2011 French Open
, where she was seeded seventh. She defeated 15th seed Andrea Petkovic
, 6–0, 6–3, in the quarterfinals, marking her first grand slam semifinals since her comeback from the career-threatening shoulder injury. She then struggled to play in the strong winds, making a myriad of unforced errors and double faults on her way to a loss to 6th seed and eventual champion Li Na
, 4–6, 5–7 in the semifinals, subsequently ending her clay season with a win-loss of 12–2. This marks her most successful clay season to date. In addition, due to the semifinal appearance at Roland Garros, Sharapova moved up to world no. 6, for her highest position since November, 2008.
After her loss at Roland Garros, Sharapova withdrew from the AEGON Classic, citing illness. She then participated at the 2011 Wimbledon Championships
, where she was seeded fifth. She had not dropped a set in the tournament entering the final, beating compatriot Anna Chakvetadze
, Laura Robson
, Klara Zakopalova, 20th seed Shuai Peng, 24th seed Dominika Cibulková
, and resurgent Sabine Lisicki
along the way. She then lost to eighth seed Petra Kvitová
in straight sets, 3–6, 4–6. With this result, Sharapova moved up to world no. 5, which is the highest position she has reached since her comeback from her shoulder injury. It is also her highest position since the 2008 US Open.
Sharapova competed at the 2011 Bank of the West Classic
in Stanford, USA to begin her 2011 US Open Series
campaign. As she was seeded second, she received a bye into the second round, where she defeated Daniela Hantuchová
, 6–2, 2–6, 6–4, to advance to the quarterfinals. In a highly anticipated match, Sharapova lost to fellow multiple Grand Slam champion Serena Williams
, 1–6, 3–6, in the quarterfinals. Serena Williams
was the eventual champion.
Sharapova then entered the 2011 Rogers Cup
in Toronto, Canada. As the fifth seed, she received a bye into the second round, where she defeated Bojana Jovanovski
, 6–1, 7–5. In the third round, she lost to Galina Voskoboeva
, 3–6, 5–7, marking her 100th career loss.
Sharapova then contested at the 2011 Western & Southern Open
held in Cincinnati, Ohio. As the fourth seed, she received a bye into the second round. On the way to her fourth final of the year, she beat Anastasia Rodionova, 6–1, 6–3, 14th seed Svetlana Kuznetsova
, 6–2, 6–3, 10th seed Samantha Stosur
, 6–3, 6–2, and second seed Vera Zvonareva
, 2–6, 6–3, 6–3. In the final, she defeated fellow former world no. 1 Jelena Jankovic
, 4–6, 7–6(3), 6–3, in 2 hours and 49 minutes, making it the longest WTA tour final of the year. She subsequently moved up to world no. 4, her highest ranking since August, 2008 and the highest since her comeback from her shoulder injury.
Sharapova then entered the final Grand Slam of the year, the US Open, where she was seeded third. She beat British up-and-comer Heather Watson
, 3–6, 7–5, 6–3, and Anastasiya Yakimova
, 6–1, 6–1, to reach the third round. She was then upset by Flavia Pennetta
in the third round, 3-6, 6-3, 4-6. However, because of the fall of Kim Clijsters
and Vera Zvonareva
in the rankings, Sharapova climbed to world no. 2.
Sharapova next tournament was the 2011 Toray Pan Pacific Open
in Tokyo, Japan. As the second seed, she received a bye into the second round, where she beat Tamarine Tanasugarn
, 6–2, 7–5. She then beat 13th seed Julia Goerges, 7–6(4), 7–6(4), before retiring against Petra Kvitova
in the quarterfinal, 3–4, after slipping on the baseline. This also forced her to withdraw from the 2011 China Open
the following week. Sharapova didn't enter any following tournaments. Instead, she flew to Istanbul, Turkey to prepare for the upcoming 2011 WTA Tour Championships
. During the WTA Tour Championships, Sharapova withdrew during the Round Robin after her defeat against Li Na
6-7(4) 4-6, due to the ankle injury she suffered in Tokyo earlier on in the year.
Sharapova will end the year number 4 in the world, her first top 10 finish since 2008 and first top 5 finish since 2007.
Sharapova has lived in the United States since moving there at the age of seven, but retains her Russian citizenship, and is therefore eligible to play in the Fed Cup
for Russia. However, the behavior of Sharapova's father during her matches on the WTA Tour, combined with a perceived lack of commitment by her to the Fed Cup, has made her selection for the Russian Fed Cup team
cause controversy in the past.
After Sharapova had beaten fellow Russian Anastasia Myskina
at the 2004 WTA Tour Championships
, Myskina criticized Sharapova's father, saying: "He was just yelling and screaming instructions to her and I thought he just might jump right on the court at one point in the match." At the Fed Cup semi-finals two weeks later Myskina stated she would stop playing for Russia if Sharapova joined the Russian team the following season: "If she joins our team next season you won't see me there for sure. His behaviour is totally incorrect, simply rude. I don't want to be around people like him." Larisa Neiland
, assistant to Russia Fed Cup captain Shamil Tarpishchev, added: "Her father's behaviour (at the WTA Tour Championships) was simply outrageous. I just don't see how he could work with the rest of us." However Tarpishchev himself played down the problem, insisting: "I feel that things will calm down soon and we'll have Myskina, Sharapova, Kuznetsova and everyone else playing for Russia."
At the end of 2005, Sharapova stated she was now keen to make her Fed Cup debut and was set to play against Belgium in April 2006, but withdrew.
Sharapova later withdrew from ties against Spain in April 2007 and against the United States in July 2007 because of injuries. The latter withdrawal led to Russia's captain saying she would be "ineligible for selection" for the Fed Cup final in September. However, Sharapova attended the final, cheering from the sidelines and acting as a "hitting partner" in practices, resulting in some of her Russian teammates implying that she was attending only to enable her to play at the 2008 Beijing Olympics
(rules state that players must have "shown commitment" to Fed Cup in order to play). Svetlana Kuznetsova
said, "She said she wanted to be our practice partner but if you can't play how then can you practice?"
Sharapova finally made her Fed Cup debut in February 2008, in Russia's quarterfinal tie against Israel
. She won both her singles rubbers, against Tzipora Obziler
and Shahar Pe'er
, helping Russia to a 4–1 victory. For the semifinals, she was given permission to skip the tie, with Tarpishchev announcing that she will be on the team for the final. However, the date of the final coincided with the lay-off from her shoulder injury, and thus she did not play.
In the 2011 first round tie, Maria played Virginie Razzano
of France and lost. Maria was supposed to play Alize Cornet
, but Sharapova was suffering from a viral illness. So teammate, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova played instead of Sharapova where she would go to help Russia come back from their 0–2 deficit by beating Alize Cornet 3–6 6–3 6–2 and secure the win for Russia against France 3–2.
or overhead smash
, she often prefers to hit a powerful "swinging" volley when approaching the net or attacking lobs
. Sharapova is thought to have good speed around the court, especially considering her height. At the beginning of 2008, some observers noted that Sharapova had developed her game, showing improved movement and footwork and the addition of a drop shot
and sliced backhand to her repertoire of shots. Despite her powerful game, Sharapova's greatest asset is considered to be her mental toughness and competitive spirit, with Nick Bollettieri stating that she is "tough as nails". Hall-of-famer John McEnroe
said of Sharapova, "she's one of the best competitors in the history of the sport." Sharapova is known for on-court "grunting
", which reached a recorded 101 decibel
s during a match at Wimbledon in 2005
. During her second round match in Birmingham in 2003, Sharapova was asked to tone down the level of her grunt after opponent Nathalie Dechy
complained to the umpire, with Sharapova's response saying that her grunting was "a natural instinct." Monica Seles
suggested that grunting is involuntary and a part of tennis. When questioned by the media about her grunting, Sharapova urged the media to "just watch the match." Her defensive game has been worked on by her new coach, and this has reflected in her results, making consecutive semi-finals at premier mandatory events on the tour.
Early in her career Sharapova's first and second serves were regarded as powerful, and she was believed to possess one of the best deliveries on the Tour. Since the beginning of 2007, however, problems with her shoulder have reduced the effectiveness of her serve. The shoulder injury not only resulted in her inconsistent first serves, but also her hitting high numbers of double faults. Two-time US Open singles champion Tracy Austin
believes that Sharapova often loses confidence in the rest of her game when she experiences problems with her serve and consequently produces more unforced errors and generally plays more tentatively, while tennis writer Joel Drucker remarked that her serve was the "catalyst for her entire game", and that her struggles with it left her "unmasked."
In her return from layoff in 2008 to 2009, she used an abbreviated motion, which was somewhat less powerful, and though producing aces also gave a very high number of double faults. After her early loss at the 2009 US Open
, Sharapova returned to a more elongated motion, similar to her pre-surgery serve. She has since been able to produce speeds greater than before, including a 121 mph serve hit at the Birmingham tournament in 2010 – the fastest serve of her career.
However since her shoulder operation Sharapova has been unable to control her serve. This led to numerous of faults, as she can't feel how much power she is generating. The new action led to an elbow injury but under Thomas Hogstedt it has improved but can still be erratic.
crowns, where she had her career breakthrough and played her peak tennis level, respectively.
Sharapova, however, is not as well-suited to the slower clay courts as she is on hard and grass courts. Sharapova has admitted that she is not as comfortable with her movement on clay compared with other court surfaces and once described herself as like a "cow on ice" after a match on clay, due to her inability to slide. Despite this, she has shown improvement on this surface with respect to experience, as evident with her first WTA red clay title at the 2010 Internationaux de Strasbourg
, 7 years since playing on the WTA circuit. Less than a year later, she won her biggest red clay title at the Tier I 2011 Internazionali BNL d'Italia
.
and Rafael Nadal
, which allows her to hit the ball later than normal and add top-spin, while it can also lead to timing issues resulting in errors. The backhand, although not as dominant in setting points up, is her more reliable shot with many tennis analysts considering this to be her best asset, and one of tennis' great shots. Her net play is good when on the attack, often she will choose to drive the volley instead of slice volleys, but this is not seen as a strength—this seems to be continually worked on.
.
Sharapova lists fashion, movies, music and reading the Sherlock Holmes
and Pippi Longstocking
series as among her off-court interests, while she has also talked in the past about how she takes hip-hop dance classes. Sharapova has a Pomeranian named Dolce, which means "sweet" in Italian. Sharapova is also a stamp collector
and has a "huge collection" compiled since she was a child.
Sharapova is engaged to Slovenian professional basketball player Sasha Vujačić
(Saša Vujačič, Саша Вујачић), who plays for the Anadolu Efes S.K.. The two have been dating since 2009.
At the 2004 US Open, Sharapova, along with several other Russian female tennis players, wore a black ribbon in observance of the tragedy after the Beslan school hostage crisis
, which took place only days before.
In addition, with Angela Haynes
, Maria Kirilenko
, Nicole Vaidišová
, Rennae Stubbs
, Governor Jeb Bush
and Jennifer Capriati
, Sharapova participated in an exhibition in Tampa in December 2004, raising money for the Florida Hurricane Relief Fund.
In 2005, she donated around US$50,000 to those affected by the crisis. On February 14, 2007, Sharapova was appointed a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and donated US$210,000 to UNDP Chernobyl-recovery projects
. She stated at the time that she was planning to travel back to the area after Wimbledon in 2008, though it didn't happen as she had to travel back to the US because of shoulder injury. She fulfilled the trip in late June – early July 2010.
In July 2008, Sharapova sent a message on DVD to the memorial service of Emily Bailes, who had performed the coin toss ahead of the 2004 Wimbledon final
that Sharapova had gone on to win.
Sharapova helped to promote the 2014 Winter Olympics
in Sochi
, Russia.
In 2011, Sharapova was named in Forbes Celebrity 100. This lists her as one of the top 100 most powerful celebrities of the year.
Sharapova has often implied that she desires an early retirement. Following the retirement of 25-year-old Justine Henin, Sharapova said, "If I was 25 and I'd won so many Grand Slams, I'd quit too." In an interview after the 2008 Australian Open
, she balked at the idea of playing for another ten years, saying that she hoped to have a "nice husband and a few kids" by then.
named her one of the 50 most beautiful celebrities in the world. In 2006, Maxim
ranked Sharapova the hottest athlete in the world for the fourth consecutive year. She posed in a six-page bikini photoshoot spread in the 2006 Valentine's Day
issue of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue
, alongside 25 supermodels.
In a poll run by Britain's FHM
magazine, she was voted the seventh most eligible bachelorette, based on both "wealth and looks."
Sharapova used the Prince Triple Threat Hornet for part of 2003 and then used several different Prince racquets until the US Open. She gave the racquet she used in the 2004 Wimbledon final to Regis Philbin
when taping Live with Regis and Kelly
. Sharapova began using the Prince Shark OS at that tournament and had a major part in the production of the Shark racquet. She then switched to the Prince O3 White racquet in January 2006. Because of Sharapova's various shoulder injuries, she switched to the Prince O3 Speedport Black in July 2008.
In January 2011, it was announced that Sharapova would endorse Head racquets and use the Head YOUTEK Radical Midplus.
Sharapova signed a sponsorship deal in January 2007 with Gatorade and Tropicana.
In June 2007, Forbes magazine listed her as the highest-paid female athlete in the world, with annual earnings of over US $26 million, the majority of which was from endorsements and sponsorships. In a later interview, she said, "You know, one of the greatest things about being an athlete and, you know, making money is realizing that you can help, you know, help the world, and especially children, who I absolutely love working with."
In 2007, Sharapova was featured in a number of Canon USA's commercials for the PowerShot.
Sharapova has also been depicted in many tennis-related video games, along with such players as Daniela Hantuchová, Lindsay Davenport, Venus Williams and Anna Kournikova. Some of the titles include the Top Spin series, Virtua Tennis
series, and Grand Slam Tennis series.
Upon hearing that Sports Illustrated
had named her in 2006 as the world's best-paid female athlete, Sharapova said, apparently only a little tongue-in-cheek, "It's never enough. Bring on the money. There's no limit to how much you can make."
In January 2010, it was announced that Sharapova had renewed her contract with Nike, signing an 8 year deal for $70 million. This is the most lucrative deal ever for a sportswoman, dwarfing the previous record, which was Venus Williams' $43 million deal with Reebok.
In August 2010, Maria Sharapova was once again named the world's highest-paid female athlete by Forbes
, earning $24.5 million.
In January 2010, she signed an eight-year Nike contract, worth $70 million.
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2010
Women's Tennis Association
The Women's Tennis Association , founded in 1973 by Billie Jean King, is the principal organizing body of Women's Professional Tennis. It governs the WTA Tour which is the worldwide professional tennis tour for women. Its counterpart organization in the men's professional game is the Association of...
singles titles, including three Grand Slam
Grand Slam (tennis)
The four Major tennis tournaments, also called the Slams, are the most important tennis events of the year in terms of world tour ranking points, tradition, prize-money awarded, strength and size of player field, and public attention. They are the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, and...
singles titles at the 2004 Wimbledon, 2006 US Open and 2008 Australian Open
2008 Australian Open
The 2008 Australian Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 96th edition of the Australian Open, and the first Grand Slam event of the year. It took place at the Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia, from 14 through 27 January 2008.After twenty years of playing on...
. She has also won the year-end WTA Tour Championships in 2004
2004 WTA Tour Championships – Singles
Kim Clijsters was the defending champion, but did not qualify for the event.- Seeds : Maria Sharapova won the 2004 WTA Tour Championship# Lindsay Davenport # Amélie Mauresmo # Anastasia Myskina ...
.
The Women's Tennis Association
Women's Tennis Association
The Women's Tennis Association , founded in 1973 by Billie Jean King, is the principal organizing body of Women's Professional Tennis. It governs the WTA Tour which is the worldwide professional tennis tour for women. Its counterpart organization in the men's professional game is the Association of...
(WTA) has ranked Sharapova world no. 1 in singles on four separate occasions. She became the world no. 1 for the first time on August 22, 2005, and last regained this ranking for the fourth time on May 19, 2008. As of November, 2011 Sharapova is ranked world no. 4. She has been in five Grand Slam finals with the final record 3–2.
Sharapova made her professional breakthrough in 2004 when, at age 17, she defeated two-time defending champion and top seed Serena Williams
Serena Williams
Serena Jameka Williams is an American professional tennis player and a former world no. 1. The Women's Tennis Association has ranked her world no. 1 in singles on five separate occasions. She became the world no. 1 for the first time on July 8, 2002 and regained this ranking for the fifth time on...
in the 2004 Wimbledon final for her first Grand Slam
Grand Slam (tennis)
The four Major tennis tournaments, also called the Slams, are the most important tennis events of the year in terms of world tour ranking points, tradition, prize-money awarded, strength and size of player field, and public attention. They are the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, and...
singles title. She entered the top 10 of the WTA Rankings with this win. Despite not winning a major in 2005, Sharapova briefly held the no. 1 ranking, and reached three Grand Slam
Grand Slam (tennis)
The four Major tennis tournaments, also called the Slams, are the most important tennis events of the year in terms of world tour ranking points, tradition, prize-money awarded, strength and size of player field, and public attention. They are the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, and...
semifinals, losing to the eventual champion each time. She won her second major at the 2006 US Open defeating then-world no. 1 Amélie Mauresmo
Amélie Mauresmo
Amélie Simone Mauresmo ; is a French former professional tennis player, and a former World No. 1. Mauresmo won two Grand Slam singles titles at the Australian Open and at Wimbledon....
in the semifinals and world no. 2 Justine Henin in the final. Sharapova's 2007 season was plagued with a chronic shoulder injury and saw her ranking fall out of the top 5 for the first time in two years. She ultimately won her third Grand Slam
Grand Slam (tennis)
The four Major tennis tournaments, also called the Slams, are the most important tennis events of the year in terms of world tour ranking points, tradition, prize-money awarded, strength and size of player field, and public attention. They are the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, and...
at the 2008 Australian Open
2008 Australian Open
The 2008 Australian Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 96th edition of the Australian Open, and the first Grand Slam event of the year. It took place at the Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia, from 14 through 27 January 2008.After twenty years of playing on...
, defeating Henin in the quarterfinals and Ana Ivanović
Ana Ivanovic
Ana Ivanović is a former world no. 1 Serbian tennis player. As of November 7, 2011, she is ranked 22th on the WTA rankings. She beat Dinara Safina to win the 2008 French Open and was the runner-up in singles at the 2007 French Open and the 2008 Australian Open...
in the final. After reclaiming the no. 1 ranking in May 2008, Sharapova's shoulder problems re-surfaced, ultimately requiring surgery in October and forcing her out of the game for nearly 10 months. Sharapova returned in May 2009 and was ranked no. 126 in the world due to her extensive lay-off. Since her comeback, Sharapova has won five singles titles (bringing her career total to 24) and improved her ranking to the world no. 2.
Sharapova's public profile extends beyond tennis, as she has been featured in a number of modeling assignments, including a feature in Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue
Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue
The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue is published annually by Sports Illustrated. It features fashion models wearing swimwear in exotic locales. According to some, the magazine is the arbiter of supermodel succession. In addition, the issue is a media nexus that in 2005 carried in advertising....
. She has been featured in many advertisements, including those for Nike, Prince and Canon, and is the face of several fashion houses, most notably Cole Haan. Sharapova was the most searched-for athlete on Yahoo! in both 2005 and 2008. Since February 2007, she has been a United Nations Development Programme Goodwill Ambassador, concerned specifically with the Chernobyl Recovery and Development Programme.
In June 2011, she was named one of the "30 Legends of Women's Tennis: Past, Present and Future" by Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
.
Early life
Gomel, BelarusBelarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
is the root of Sharapova's parents Yury and Yelena. They left their homeland after the Chernobyl nuclear accident
Chernobyl disaster
The Chernobyl disaster was a nuclear accident that occurred on 26 April 1986 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine , which was under the direct jurisdiction of the central authorities in Moscow...
in 1986 affected the region, right before Sharapova was born. When Sharapova was two, the family moved to Sochi
Sochi
Sochi is a city in Krasnodar Krai, Russia, situated just north of Russia's border with the de facto independent republic of Abkhazia, on the Black Sea coast. Greater Sochi sprawls for along the shores of the Black Sea near the Caucasus Mountains...
, where her father befriended Aleksandr Kafelnikov, whose son Yevgeny
Yevgeny Kafelnikov
Yevgeny Aleksandrovich Kafelnikov is a former World No. 1 tennis player from Russia. He won two Grand Slam singles titles , four Grand Slam doubles titles, and the men's singles gold medal at the Sydney Olympic Games. He also helped Russia win the Davis Cup in 2002...
would go on to win two Grand Slam singles titles and became Russia's first ever world no. 1 tennis player. Aleksandr gave Sharapova her first tennis racket at the age of four, whereupon she began practicing regularly with her father at a local park. She took her first tennis lessons with veteran Russian coach Yuri Yutkin, who was instantly impressed when he first saw her play, noting her "exceptional hand-eye co-ordination."
At the age of seven, Sharapova attended a tennis clinic in Moscow run by Martina Navrátilová, who recommended professional training at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy
Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy
The Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy is located in Bradenton, Florida, and was founded in 1978 by Nick Bollettieri as a full-time tennis boarding school that combines intensive tennis training with an academic curriculum....
in Florida, which had previously trained players such as Andre Agassi
Andre Agassi
Andre Kirk Agassi is a retired American professional tennis player and former world no. 1. Generally considered by critics and fellow players to be one of the greatest tennis players of all time, Agassi has been called the best service returner in the history of the game...
, Monica Seles
Monica Seles
Monica Seles is a former world no. 1 professional tennis player and a member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame. She was born in Novi Sad, Serbia, former Yugoslavia to Hungarian parents. She became a naturalized United States citizen in 1994 and also received Hungarian citizenship in June 2007...
, and Anna Kournikova
Anna Kournikova
Anna Sergeyevna Kournikova is a Russian retired professional tennis player. Her beauty and celebrity status made her one of the best known tennis stars worldwide, despite the fact that she never won a WTA singles title. At the peak of her fame, fans looking for images of Kournikova made her name...
. With money tight, Yuri was forced to borrow the sum that would allow him and his daughter, neither of whom could speak English, to travel to United States, which they finally did in 1994. Visa restrictions prevented Sharapova's mother from joining them for two years. Arriving in Florida with savings of US$700, Sharapova's father took various low-paying jobs, including dish-washing, to fund her lessons until she was old enough to be admitted to the academy. In 1995, she was signed by IMG
IMG (business)
IMG, originally known as the International Management Group is a global sports and media business headquartered in New York City.-History:...
, who agreed to pay the annual tuition fee of $35,000 for Sharapova to stay at the academy, allowing her to finally enroll at the age of 9.
2001–03
Sharapova first gained attention on the tennis scene in November 2000, when she won the Eddie Herr International Junior Tennis Championships in the girls' 16 division at the age of just 13. She was then given a special award, the Rising Star Award, which is awarded only to players of exceptional promise. She made her professional debut in 2001, and played her first WTA tournament at the Pacific Life Open in 2002, winning a match before losing to Monica SelesMonica Seles
Monica Seles is a former world no. 1 professional tennis player and a member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame. She was born in Novi Sad, Serbia, former Yugoslavia to Hungarian parents. She became a naturalized United States citizen in 1994 and also received Hungarian citizenship in June 2007...
. Due to restrictions on how many professional events she could play, Sharapova went to hone her game in junior tournaments, where she reached the finals of the Australian Open and Wimbledon in 2002. She was the youngest girl ever to reach the final of the Australian Open junior championship at 14 years and 9 months.
From 2003, Sharapova played a full season, and made a rapid climb into the top 50 by the end of the year. She made her debuts at both the Australian Open and the French Open, but failed to win a match in either. It was not until the grass season that she began to fulfill her promise, beating a top-20 player for the first time and reaching her first semifinal at the WTA level. Then, as a wildcard at Wimbledon
2003 Wimbledon Championships
List of the 2003 Wimbledon Champions:-Men's Singles: Roger Federer def. Mark Philippoussis, 7–6, 6–2, 7–6*It was Federer's 5th title of the year, and his 9th overall. It was his 1st career Grand Slam title. He became the first Swiss male player to win a Grand Slam singles...
, she defeated 11th seed Jelena Dokić
Jelena Dokic
Jelena Dokić is an Australian female professional tennis player.During the height of her career, she played for Serbia and Montenegro and reached a career-high ranking of World No. 4 on 19 August 2002. After several family-related difficulties , she slowly slipped down the rankings in 2006...
to reach the fourth round, where she lost in three sets to Svetlana Kuznetsova
Svetlana Kuznetsova
Svetlana Aleksandrovna Kuznetsova ; born June 27, 1985) is a Russian professional tennis player and as of October 10, 2011 ranked No. 21 in the WTA singles and No. 90 in the doubles ranking. Kuznetsova has appeared in four singles Grand Slam finals, winning two, and has also appeared in six doubles...
.
By the end of September, Sharapova had already captured her first WTA title at a smaller event, the Japan Open Tennis Championships
Japan Open Tennis Championships
The Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships is a tennis tournament held in Ariake Tennis Forest Park with its center court Ariake Coliseum, located in Kōtō, Tokyo, Japan. The championship includes both men's and women's, as well as singles and doubles competitions...
, before winning her second in her final tournament of the season, the Bell Challenge
Bell Challenge
The Bell Challenge is a WTA Tour Tier III tennis tournament held in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada since 1993. The tournament is played on indoor hardcourts....
. To cap off her first full season as a professional, she was awarded the WTA Newcomer of the Year honor.
2004
Sharapova was defeated in the third round of the Australian Open2004 Australian Open
The 2004 Australian Open was a Grand Slam tournament held in Melbourne, Australia 19 January to 1 February, 2004.-Men's Singles: Roger Federer def. Marat Safin, 7–6, 6–4, 6–2...
by seventh seed Anastasia Myskina
Anastasia Myskina
Anastasiya Andreyevna Myskina is a professional tennis player from Russia. She won the 2004 French Open singles title, becoming the first Russian female tennis player to win a Grand Slam main draw singles title. Subsequent to this victory she rose to number 3 on the WTA ranking, becoming the first...
. The highlight of the remainder of her spring hard-court season was a run to the semifinals at the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships and the Cellular South Cup
Regions Morgan Keegan Championships and the Cellular South Cup
The Regions Morgan Keegan Championships and the Cellular South Cup are tennis tournaments held in Memphis, Tennessee, USA. The Regions Morgan Keegan Championships is a men's ATP Tour event that has been held since 1976. In previous years it has been known as the U.S. Indoor Championships, the...
, where she ultimately lost to Vera Zvonareva
Vera Zvonareva
Vera Zvonareva is a professional tennis player from Russia. She was introduced to tennis at the age of six and turned professional in 2000. Her career high is World No. 2 by the WTA, and she is currently ranked as the World No. 7. Zvonarёva has won twelve WTA Tour singles titles and reached the...
.
During the spring clay-court season, Sharapova entered the top 20 on the WTA world rankings as a result of reaching the third round of the Qatar Telecom German Open
Qatar Telecom German Open
The German Open, sponsored from 2006 through 2008 as the Qatar Telecom German Open, was a WTA Tour affiliated professional tennis tournament for women played in Berlin, Germany. Held since 1896, it was one of the oldest tournaments for women...
and the Internazionali BNL d'Italia, both of which were Tier I events. At the latter event, she defeated a player ranked in the top 10 for the first time with a straight-sets win over world no. 10 Elena Dementieva
Elena Dementieva
Elena Viatcheslavovna Dementieva is a retired Russian professional tennis player. Dementieva is most notable for winning the singles gold medal at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. She won 16 WTA singles titles and reached the finals of the 2004 French Open and 2004 US Open. Dementieva achieved a...
. Later that clay-court season, she went on to make the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam for the first time at the French Open
2004 French Open
The 2004 French Open was the 103rd edition of the tournament. Gastón Gaudio became the first men's Open Era Grand Slam title winner to save match points in the final; the last time that had happened was 70 years earlier. Gaudio also became the first Argentine man since Guillermo Vilas to win a...
, losing there to Paola Suárez
Paola Suárez
Paola Suárez was a top 10 tennis player in the early 2000s. She gained prominence in 2004 by reaching the finals of nine straight WTA doubles tournaments, and by reaching the singles semifinals of the French Open tournament, held in Paris."La Negra" Suárez began playing professional tennis at the...
.
Sharapova won the third title of her career at the Wimbledon
2004 Wimbledon Championships
List of the 2004 Wimbledon Champions:-Men's Singles: Roger Federer def. Andy Roddick, 4–6, 7–5, 7–6, 6–4*It was Federer's sixth title of the year, and his 17th overall. It was his third career Grand Slam title, and his 2nd at Wimbledon....
warm-up DFS Classic
DFS Classic
The AEGON Classic, formerly known as the DFS Classic, is an International series tennis tournament on the WTA Tour held at the Edgbaston Priory Club in Edgbaston, Birmingham, United Kingdom. Held at this location since 1982, the tournament is played on outdoor grass courts...
, defeating Tatiana Golovin
Tatiana Golovin
Tatiana Golovin is an inactive French professional tennis player. She is best known for her explosive forehand, which was said to be one of the best at the time. She notably won the 2004 French Open mixed doubles event with Richard Gasquet, and reached the singles quarterfinal at the 2006 U.S....
in the final. Seeded 13th and aged 17 at Wimbledon, she reached her first Grand Slam semifinal by defeating Ai Sugiyama
Ai Sugiyama
is a retired Japanese professional tennis player. She reached No. 1 in women's doubles on the WTA Tour. Her career-high singles ranking was No. 8, achieved on February 9, 2004. She turned professional in 1992...
. There, she came back from a 6–2, 3–1 deficit to defeat fifth seed and former champion Lindsay Davenport
Lindsay Davenport
Lindsay Ann Davenport is a former World No. 1 American professional tennis player. She has won three Grand Slam singles tournaments and an Olympic gold medal in singles. In 2005, TENNIS Magazine ranked her as the 29th-best player of the preceding forty years...
. In the final, Sharapova upset top seed and defending champion Serena Williams
Serena Williams
Serena Jameka Williams is an American professional tennis player and a former world no. 1. The Women's Tennis Association has ranked her world no. 1 in singles on five separate occasions. She became the world no. 1 for the first time on July 8, 2002 and regained this ranking for the fifth time on...
to win her first Grand Slam singles title, and become the third youngest woman to win the Wimbledon title, behind only Lottie Dod
Lottie Dod
Charlotte "Lottie" Dod was an English sportswoman best known as a tennis player. She won the Wimbledon Ladies' Singles Championship five times, the first one when she was only fifteen, in the summer of 1887...
and Martina Hingis
Martina Hingis
Martina Hingis is a retired Swiss professional tennis player who spent a total of 209 weeks as World No. 1. She won five Grand Slam singles titles...
. Sharapova also became the second Russian woman (after Anastasia Myskina
Anastasia Myskina
Anastasiya Andreyevna Myskina is a professional tennis player from Russia. She won the 2004 French Open singles title, becoming the first Russian female tennis player to win a Grand Slam main draw singles title. Subsequent to this victory she rose to number 3 on the WTA ranking, becoming the first...
had won the year's previous major at Roland Garros) to win a Grand Slam singles title. The victory was hailed by the media as "the most stunning upset in memory", with other writers commenting on her arrival as a serious challenger to the Williams'
Williams sisters
The Williams sisters are two professional American tennis players: Venus Williams born 1980, seven-time Grand Slam title winner , and Serena Williams born 1981, thirteen-time Grand Slam title winner , both of whom were coached from an early age by their father Richard Williams...
dominance at Wimbledon. She entered the top 10 in the rankings for the first time as a result of the win.
Following her Wimbledon win, attention and interest in Sharapova in the media greatly increased, a rise in popularity dubbed as "Maria Mania." However, on court, she was struggling to achieve results, winning just three of six matches in her preparations for the US Open. At the US Open itself, she reached the third round, before being eliminated by Mary Pierce
Mary Pierce
Mary Pierce is a French-American tennis professional playing on the Women's Tennis Association tour. She is a citizen of France, Canada, and the United States but plays for France in team competitions and the Olympics.Pierce has won four Grand Slam titles, two in singles and two in doubles...
. In order to regain confidence, Sharapova played and won consecutive titles in Asia in the fall, the Hansol Korea Open Tennis Championships
Hansol Korea Open Tennis Championships
The Hansol Korea Open is a tennis tournament held in Seoul, South Korea. Held since 2004, this WTA Tour event is an International tournament and is played at the Seoul Olympic Park Tennis Center on, outdoor hardcourts....
and the Japan Open Tennis Championships
Japan Open Tennis Championships
The Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships is a tennis tournament held in Ariake Tennis Forest Park with its center court Ariake Coliseum, located in Kōtō, Tokyo, Japan. The championship includes both men's and women's, as well as singles and doubles competitions...
.
In October, Sharapova defeated Venus Williams
Venus Williams
Venus Ebony Starr Williams is an American professional tennis player who is a former World No. 1 and is ranked World No. 101 as of 10 October 2011 in singles and World No. 20 in doubles as of 2011. She has been ranked World No. 1 in singles by the Women's Tennis Association on three separate...
en route to making the final of a Tier I event for the first time at the Zurich Open
Zurich Open
The Zurich Open was a WTA Tour affiliated professional tennis tournament for women, formerly held every winter in Zurich, Switzerland. It was classified on the WTA Tour as a Tier I tournament from 1993 until 2007. In its final year, 2008, it was downgraded to a Tier II event.The Open was held at...
, losing in the final to Alicia Molik
Alicia Molik
Alicia Molik is a Australian professional female tennis player. She reached a career high singles rank of number 8 and also won a bronze medal for Australia at the 2004 Athens Olympics. Molik also reached a career high doubles ranking of number 6, and won two grand slam doubles titles, at the...
. She then made her debut at the year-ending WTA Tour Championships
WTA Tour Championships
The WTA Tour Championships is a tennis tournament played annually at the end of the season for the top-ranked players on the Women's Tennis Association tour. The month, city and number of players has changed since the first edition in 1972...
. There, she won two of her three round-robin matches (including a win over US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova
Svetlana Kuznetsova
Svetlana Aleksandrovna Kuznetsova ; born June 27, 1985) is a Russian professional tennis player and as of October 10, 2011 ranked No. 21 in the WTA singles and No. 90 in the doubles ranking. Kuznetsova has appeared in four singles Grand Slam finals, winning two, and has also appeared in six doubles...
) in order to advance to the semifinals, where she defeated Myskina. In the final, she defeated Serena Williams
Serena Williams
Serena Jameka Williams is an American professional tennis player and a former world no. 1. The Women's Tennis Association has ranked her world no. 1 in singles on five separate occasions. She became the world no. 1 for the first time on July 8, 2002 and regained this ranking for the fifth time on...
, 4–6, 6–2, 6–4, after trailing 4–0 in the final set.
2005
2005 Australian Open
The 2005 Australian Open was a Grand Slam tennis tournament held in Melbourne, Australia from 17 until 30 January 2005.-Men's Singles: Marat Safin def. Lleyton Hewitt, 1–6, 6–3, 6–4, 6–4...
, where she defeated fifth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova
Svetlana Kuznetsova
Svetlana Aleksandrovna Kuznetsova ; born June 27, 1985) is a Russian professional tennis player and as of October 10, 2011 ranked No. 21 in the WTA singles and No. 90 in the doubles ranking. Kuznetsova has appeared in four singles Grand Slam finals, winning two, and has also appeared in six doubles...
to reach the second Grand Slam semifinal of her career. Sharapova held match points in the third set of her semifinal match, before losing to eventual champion Serena Williams
Serena Williams
Serena Jameka Williams is an American professional tennis player and a former world no. 1. The Women's Tennis Association has ranked her world no. 1 in singles on five separate occasions. She became the world no. 1 for the first time on July 8, 2002 and regained this ranking for the fifth time on...
. In February, Sharapova won back-to-back tournaments, the Toray Pan Pacific Open
Toray Pan Pacific Open
The is a WTA Tour affiliated professional tennis tournament for women, held every year since 1984 on in Tokyo, Japan. It is classified on the WTA Tour as a Tier I tournament since 1993. The event has traditionally been played on indoor carpet at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium, but the 2008 event...
and the Qatar Total Open
Qatar Total Open
The Qatar Ladies Open , known as the Qatar Total Open for sponsorship reasons, is tennis tournament held in Doha, Qatar. Held since 2001, this WTA Tour event was a Tier I-tournament in 2008, and was played on outdoor hardcourts. Total S.A. was the main tournament sponsor...
, allowing her to reach the top 3 in the world rankings for the first time.
In the semifinals of the Tier I Pacific Life Open, Sharapova was defeated by Lindsay Davenport
Lindsay Davenport
Lindsay Ann Davenport is a former World No. 1 American professional tennis player. She has won three Grand Slam singles tournaments and an Olympic gold medal in singles. In 2005, TENNIS Magazine ranked her as the 29th-best player of the preceding forty years...
, 0-6, 0-6, the first time she had failed to win a game in a match. The following fortnight, she defeated former world no. 1 players Justine Henin and Venus Williams
Venus Williams
Venus Ebony Starr Williams is an American professional tennis player who is a former World No. 1 and is ranked World No. 101 as of 10 October 2011 in singles and World No. 20 in doubles as of 2011. She has been ranked World No. 1 in singles by the Women's Tennis Association on three separate...
to reach the final at the Tier I NASDAQ-100 Open, where she lost to Kim Clijsters
Kim Clijsters
Kim Antonie Lode Clijsters is a Belgian professional tennis player. As of 7 November 2011, Clijsters is ranked No. 13 in singles. Clijsters is a former World No. 1 in both singles and doubles....
.
Sharapova made the semifinals of a clay-court tournament for the first time at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia, where she lost to Patty Schnyder
Patty Schnyder
Patty Schnyder is a retired Swiss professional tennis player. She played on the WTA tour from 1993 to 2011 and is a former World No. 7. She defeated several World No...
. Sharapova would have become world no. 1 for the first time had she won the tournament. Sharapova then reached the quarterfinals of the French Open
2005 French Open
The 2005 French Open was the 104th edition of the tournament. Rafael Nadal, seeded fourth in his first French Open, was a strong favorite after winning the Rome and Monte Carlo Masters, with Guillermo Coria, a 2004 finalist and runner-up in Monaco, calling Nadal the best clay-court player in the...
for the second consecutive year, before losing to eventual champion Henin. On grass, Sharapova won her third title of the year when she successfully defended her title at the DFS Classic
DFS Classic
The AEGON Classic, formerly known as the DFS Classic, is an International series tennis tournament on the WTA Tour held at the Edgbaston Priory Club in Edgbaston, Birmingham, United Kingdom. Held at this location since 1982, the tournament is played on outdoor grass courts...
, defeating Jelena Janković
Jelena Janković
Jelena Janković is a former world no. 1 professional tennis player from Serbia. She reached the final of the 2008 US Open and won the 2007 Wimbledon Mixed Doubles title. Janković is ranked world no...
in the final. As the defending champion at Wimbledon
2005 Wimbledon Championships
The 2005 Wimbledon Championships was the 119 edition. It was held at the All England Club between 20 June and 3 July.Roger Federer successfully defended the men's singles crown defeating Andy Roddick in straight sets. Whilst Venus Williams and Lindsay Davenport played the longest women's final in...
, Sharapova reached the semifinals without dropping a set and losing a service game just once, extending her winning streak on grass to 24 matches. However, she was then beaten by eventual champion Venus Williams
Venus Williams
Venus Ebony Starr Williams is an American professional tennis player who is a former World No. 1 and is ranked World No. 101 as of 10 October 2011 in singles and World No. 20 in doubles as of 2011. She has been ranked World No. 1 in singles by the Women's Tennis Association on three separate...
.
A back injury sustained by world no. 1 Davenport at Wimbledon prevented her from playing tournaments during the summer hard-court season, which meant she could not earn new ranking points to replace those that were expiring from the previous year. Sharapova, although also injured for much of this time, had far fewer points to defend, and so she became the first Russian woman to hold the world no. 1 ranking on August 22, 2005. Her reign lasted only one week, however, as Davenport reclaimed the top ranking after winning the Pilot Pen Tennis
Pilot Pen Tennis
This article is about the former New Haven joint tennis event. It is now a women's-only event. For the New Haven men's tennis event known as Volvo International , click here....
tournament.
As the top seed at the US Open, Sharapova lost in the semifinals to Kim Clijsters
Kim Clijsters
Kim Antonie Lode Clijsters is a Belgian professional tennis player. As of 7 November 2011, Clijsters is ranked No. 13 in singles. Clijsters is a former World No. 1 in both singles and doubles....
, meaning she had lost to the eventual champion in every Grand Slam of the season. However, she once again leapfrogged Davenport to take the world no. 1 ranking on September 12, 2005. She retained it for six weeks, but after playing few tournaments while injured, she again relinquished the ranking to Davenport. To conclude the year, Sharapova failed to defend her title at the year-end Sony Ericsson Championships, defeating Davenport in one of her round-robin matches, but ultimately losing in the semifinals to eventual champion Amélie Mauresmo
Amélie Mauresmo
Amélie Simone Mauresmo ; is a French former professional tennis player, and a former World No. 1. Mauresmo won two Grand Slam singles titles at the Australian Open and at Wimbledon....
.
2006
Sharapova started 2006 by losing in the semifinals of the Australian Open2006 Australian Open
The 2006 Australian Open was played between 16 and 29 January 2006.- Leadup :Several leading men's players declined to attend the Open due to injury, including Andre Agassi, Rafael Nadal and defending champion Marat Safin....
in three sets to Henin, also losing a rematch several weeks later at the Dubai Tennis Championships
Dubai Tennis Championships
The Dubai Tennis Championships is a professional tennis tournament owned and organized by Dubai Duty Free and held annually in Dubai, United Arab...
, having defeated former world no. 1 Martina Hingis
Martina Hingis
Martina Hingis is a retired Swiss professional tennis player who spent a total of 209 weeks as World No. 1. She won five Grand Slam singles titles...
and world no. 3 Lindsay Davenport
Lindsay Davenport
Lindsay Ann Davenport is a former World No. 1 American professional tennis player. She has won three Grand Slam singles tournaments and an Olympic gold medal in singles. In 2005, TENNIS Magazine ranked her as the 29th-best player of the preceding forty years...
in earlier rounds of the tournament. Sharapova claimed her first title in nine months at the Tier I tournament in Indian Wells, defeating Hingis in the semifinals and Elena Dementieva
Elena Dementieva
Elena Viatcheslavovna Dementieva is a retired Russian professional tennis player. Dementieva is most notable for winning the singles gold medal at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. She won 16 WTA singles titles and reached the finals of the 2004 French Open and 2004 US Open. Dementieva achieved a...
in the final. The following fortnight, she reached the final in Miami before losing to Kuznetsova.
2006 French Open - Women's Singles
Justine Henin-Hardenne was the defending champion, and she defended her title by beating Svetlana Kuznetsova in the final, 6–4, 6–4.-Schedule:-Seeds:# Amélie Mauresmo # Kim Clijsters # Nadia Petrova ...
. There, after saving match points in defeating Mashona Washington
Mashona Washington
Mashona Washington is a professional tennis player from the United States.Mashona's career high singles ranking is no. 50 which she reached on November 8, 2004, and her career high doubles ranking is no...
in the first round, she was eliminated by Dinara Safina
Dinara Safina
Dinara Mikhailovna Safina , born April 27, 1986 in Moscow, is a Russian professional tennis player of Tatar background. Safina's career high ranking is World No. 1....
in the fourth round.
On grass, Sharapova was unsuccessful in her attempt to win in Birmingham for the third consecutive year, losing in the semifinals to Jamea Jackson
Jamea Jackson
Jamea Jackson is a female American former tennis player. She reached a singles ranking of 45 in the world at the end of 2006.Jackson was born in Atlanta, Georgia and attended the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Bradenton, Florida....
. Despite that, she was among the title favorites at Wimbledon, where the eventual champion Mauresmo ended up beating her in the semifinals.
Sharapova claimed her second title of the year at the Tier I Acura Classic, defeating Clijsters for the first time in the final. As the third seed at the US Open, Sharapova defeated top seed Mauresmo for the first time in the semifinals, and then followed up by beating second seed Justine Henin in order to win her second Grand Slam singles title.
That autumn, Sharapova won titles in back-to-back weeks at the Zurich Open
Zurich Open
The Zurich Open was a WTA Tour affiliated professional tennis tournament for women, formerly held every winter in Zurich, Switzerland. It was classified on the WTA Tour as a Tier I tournament from 1993 until 2007. In its final year, 2008, it was downgraded to a Tier II event.The Open was held at...
and the Generali Ladies Linz
Generali Ladies Linz
The Generali Ladies Linz is a tennis tournament held in Linz, Austria. Held since 1987, this WTA Tour event is a Tier II-tournament and is played on indoor hardcourts...
. By winning all three of her round-robin matches at the WTA Tour Championships, she extended her win streak to 19 matches, before it was snapped in the semifinals by eventual champion Henin. Sharapova would have finished the season as world no. 1 had she won the event. As it was, she finished ranked world no. 2, her best finish at the end of a year yet.
2007
2007 Australian Open - Women's Singles
-Seeds:# Maria Sharapova # Amélie Mauresmo # Svetlana Kuznetsova # Kim Clijsters # Nadia Petrova # Martina Hingis # Elena Dementieva ...
due to top-ranked Justine Henin's withdrawal. After being two points away from defeat in the first round against Camille Pin
Camille Pin
Camille Pin is a former French professional tennis player. Pin played right-handed and is 162 cm, or 5' 3¾" tall....
, rallying for a 6–3, 4–6, 9–7 victory, she went on to reach the final of the tournament for the first time, but was routed there by Serena Williams
Serena Williams
Serena Jameka Williams is an American professional tennis player and a former world no. 1. The Women's Tennis Association has ranked her world no. 1 in singles on five separate occasions. She became the world no. 1 for the first time on July 8, 2002 and regained this ranking for the fifth time on...
, 1–6, 2–6, ranked world no. 81 at the time. By reaching the final, Sharapova recaptured the world no. 1 ranking. She held it for seven weeks, surrendering it back to Henin after failing to defend her title at the Pacific Life Open, instead losing in the fourth round to Vera Zvonareva
Vera Zvonareva
Vera Zvonareva is a professional tennis player from Russia. She was introduced to tennis at the age of six and turned professional in 2000. Her career high is World No. 2 by the WTA, and she is currently ranked as the World No. 7. Zvonarёva has won twelve WTA Tour singles titles and reached the...
after struggling with a hamstring injury. The following fortnight, she defeated Venus Williams
Venus Williams
Venus Ebony Starr Williams is an American professional tennis player who is a former World No. 1 and is ranked World No. 101 as of 10 October 2011 in singles and World No. 20 in doubles as of 2011. She has been ranked World No. 1 in singles by the Women's Tennis Association on three separate...
in the third round of the Sony Ericsson Open, before suffering another defeat, 1–6, 1–6, to Serena Williams
Serena Williams
Serena Jameka Williams is an American professional tennis player and a former world no. 1. The Women's Tennis Association has ranked her world no. 1 in singles on five separate occasions. She became the world no. 1 for the first time on July 8, 2002 and regained this ranking for the fifth time on...
.
A shoulder injury forced Sharapova to miss most of the clay-court season for the second consecutive year, resulting in her only tune-up for the French Open
2007 French Open
The 2007 French Open was held in Paris, France from 27 May through to 10 June 2007. Followed two weeks later, as usual, by Wimbledon in London, United Kingdom. Rafael Nadal became the first man to win the tournament 3 times consecutively since Björn Borg, 1978–81; and maintained his unbeaten run...
being the Istanbul Cup
Istanbul Cup
The İstanbul Cup is a tennis tournament held in İstanbul, Turkey. Held since 2005, this WTA Tour event is a WTA International Tournaments and is played on outdoor clay courts. From 2009, it switched to outdoor hard courts...
, where she lost in the semifinals to Aravane Rezaï. Despite her lack of preparation, she reached the semifinals of the French Open for the first time in her career (having saved match points against Patty Schnyder
Patty Schnyder
Patty Schnyder is a retired Swiss professional tennis player. She played on the WTA tour from 1993 to 2011 and is a former World No. 7. She defeated several World No...
in the fourth round), before losing to Ana Ivanović
Ana Ivanovic
Ana Ivanović is a former world no. 1 Serbian tennis player. As of November 7, 2011, she is ranked 22th on the WTA rankings. She beat Dinara Safina to win the 2008 French Open and was the runner-up in singles at the 2007 French Open and the 2008 Australian Open...
.
On grass, Sharapova was runner-up to Jelena Janković
Jelena Janković
Jelena Janković is a former world no. 1 professional tennis player from Serbia. She reached the final of the 2008 US Open and won the 2007 Wimbledon Mixed Doubles title. Janković is ranked world no...
at the DFS Classic
DFS Classic
The AEGON Classic, formerly known as the DFS Classic, is an International series tennis tournament on the WTA Tour held at the Edgbaston Priory Club in Edgbaston, Birmingham, United Kingdom. Held at this location since 1982, the tournament is played on outdoor grass courts...
. Following that, she experienced her earliest Wimbledon loss since 2003 by losing in the fourth round to eventual champion Venus Williams
Venus Williams
Venus Ebony Starr Williams is an American professional tennis player who is a former World No. 1 and is ranked World No. 101 as of 10 October 2011 in singles and World No. 20 in doubles as of 2011. She has been ranked World No. 1 in singles by the Women's Tennis Association on three separate...
.
Sharapova clinched the US Open Series by defending her title at the Acura Classic, her only championship of the year, and reaching the semifinals in Los Angeles. In her US Open
2007 U.S. Open (tennis)
The 2007 US Open was held from 27 August to 9 September 2007, at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center at Flushing Meadows, New York City....
title defense, Sharapova lost her third round match to 30th seed Agnieszka Radwańska
Agnieszka Radwanska
Agnieszka Radwańska is a WTA Tour Polish tennis player.Her career high singles ranking is World No. 8, which she achieved on 22 February 2010. As of 24 October 2011, she is ranked World No. 8. In 2007, Radwańska became the first Polish player in history to claim a WTA Tour singles title when she...
, her earliest exit at a Grand Slam singles tournament since the 2004 US Open, where she lost in the same round.
Following the US Open loss, Sharapova did not play again until the Kremlin Cup
Kremlin Cup
The Kremlin Cup is a professional tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It is currently part of the ATP World Tour 250 series of the ATP Tour and is a Premier Tournament on the WTA Tour...
in October, where she lost her opening match to Victoria Azarenka
Victoria Azarenka
Victoria Azarenka is a Belarusian professional tennis player. Her career high and current ranking is world no. 3, which she first achieved on 12 September 2011. She became the highest-ranked Belarusian player ever, surpassing Natasha Zvereva by two spots....
. Shortly after this, she fell out of the top 5 in the world rankings for the first time since 2004. She qualified for the eight-woman year-end Sony Ericsson Championships
2007 WTA Tour Championships
The 2007 WTA Tour Championships, officially Sony Ericsson Championships, is the thirty seventh season-ending WTA Tour Championships, the annual tennis tournament for the eight best female tennis players in singles, and four teams in doubles, on the 2007 WTA Tour...
only because Venus Williams
Venus Williams
Venus Ebony Starr Williams is an American professional tennis player who is a former World No. 1 and is ranked World No. 101 as of 10 October 2011 in singles and World No. 20 in doubles as of 2011. She has been ranked World No. 1 in singles by the Women's Tennis Association on three separate...
withdrew from the tournament. Despite having not previously won a match in two months, Sharapova topped her round-robin group at the tournament, after winning all three of her matches, defeating Svetlana Kuznetsova
Svetlana Kuznetsova
Svetlana Aleksandrovna Kuznetsova ; born June 27, 1985) is a Russian professional tennis player and as of October 10, 2011 ranked No. 21 in the WTA singles and No. 90 in the doubles ranking. Kuznetsova has appeared in four singles Grand Slam finals, winning two, and has also appeared in six doubles...
and Ana Ivanović
Ana Ivanovic
Ana Ivanović is a former world no. 1 Serbian tennis player. As of November 7, 2011, she is ranked 22th on the WTA rankings. She beat Dinara Safina to win the 2008 French Open and was the runner-up in singles at the 2007 French Open and the 2008 Australian Open...
. She then defeated Anna Chakvetadze
Anna Chakvetadze
Anna Djambulilovna Chakvetadze is a Russian professional tennis player . On September 10, 2007, she reached her career-high professional singles ranking of World No. 5. She has won eight WTA Singles Titles and appeared in the 2007 US Open semifinals. As of July 4, 2011, Chakvetadze is ranked World...
in the semifinals. In the final, she lost to world no. 1 Henin in a match that lasted 3 hours and 24 minutes.
2008
Sharapova was seeded fifth at the Australian Open2008 Australian Open
The 2008 Australian Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 96th edition of the Australian Open, and the first Grand Slam event of the year. It took place at the Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia, from 14 through 27 January 2008.After twenty years of playing on...
, but was not considered a favorite. Nevertheless, she defeated former world no. 1 Lindsay Davenport
Lindsay Davenport
Lindsay Ann Davenport is a former World No. 1 American professional tennis player. She has won three Grand Slam singles tournaments and an Olympic gold medal in singles. In 2005, TENNIS Magazine ranked her as the 29th-best player of the preceding forty years...
in the second round, and then world no. 1 Henin in the quarterfinals, ending the latter's 32-match winning streak. She proceeded to the finals by defeating Jelena Janković
Jelena Janković
Jelena Janković is a former world no. 1 professional tennis player from Serbia. She reached the final of the 2008 US Open and won the 2007 Wimbledon Mixed Doubles title. Janković is ranked world no...
in the semifinals, where she defeated Ana Ivanović
Ana Ivanovic
Ana Ivanović is a former world no. 1 Serbian tennis player. As of November 7, 2011, she is ranked 22th on the WTA rankings. She beat Dinara Safina to win the 2008 French Open and was the runner-up in singles at the 2007 French Open and the 2008 Australian Open...
to win her third Grand Slam title, having not dropped a set all tournament.
Russia Fed Cup team
The Russia Fed Cup team represents Russia in Fed Cup tennis competition and are governed by the Russian Tennis Federation. They currently compete in the World Group.- Current Team :* Maria Sharapova * Elena Vesnina...
in the Fed Cup
2008 Fed Cup
The 2008 Fed Cup was the 46th edition of the most important tournament between national teams in women's tennis. 8 teams contested the World Group, and 85 teams competed in total...
against Israel
Israel Fed Cup team
The Israel Fed Cup team is the representative national team of Israel in Fed Cup competition. In the 2007 Fed Cup, they qualified from the World Group II and World Group Play-offs to reach the elite World Group for the first time in the team's history. They will participate within this group at...
and victory at the Tier I Qatar Total Open
2008 Qatar Total Open
The 2008 Qatar Ladies Open, known as the 2008 Qatar Total Open, for sponsorship reasons, was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 8th edition of the Qatar Total Open, and was part of the Tier I Series of the 2008 WTA Tour...
. Her winning streak was ended in the semifinals of the Pacific Life Open by Kuznetsova. In April, Sharapova won the Bausch & Lomb Championships
2008 Bausch & Lomb Championships
The 2008 Bausch & Lomb Championships was the 29th edition of that tennis tournament and was played on outdoor clay courts. It was classified as a Tier II event on the 2008 WTA Tour. The event took place at the Racquet Park at the Amelia Island Plantation in Amelia Island, Florida, U.S. from April 7...
, having survived her longest-ever match, at 3 hours and 26 minutes long, in the third round against Anabel Medina Garrigues
Anabel Medina Garrigues
Ana Isabel Medina Garrigues , better known as Anabel Medina, is a Spanish female tennis player. She reached a career high WTA Tour ranking of No. 16 on 4 May 2009, and has won 11 singles titles and 14 doubles titles, including the 2008 French Open and 2009 French Open with Virginia Ruano Pascual...
. The following week, at the Family Circle Cup
2008 Family Circle Cup
The 2008 Family Circle Cup was a women's tennis Tier I event on the 2008 WTA Tour, which took place from April 14 to April 20, 2008. The event was hosted at the Family Circle Tennis Center, in Charleston, South Carolina, United States and was the second event of the clay court season, played on...
, she lost in the quarterfinals to Serena Williams
Serena Williams
Serena Jameka Williams is an American professional tennis player and a former world no. 1. The Women's Tennis Association has ranked her world no. 1 in singles on five separate occasions. She became the world no. 1 for the first time on July 8, 2002 and regained this ranking for the fifth time on...
, her fourth consecutive loss to the American.
In May, Sharapova regained the world no. 1 ranking because of Henin's sudden retirement from professional tennis and request to the WTA
Women's Tennis Association
The Women's Tennis Association , founded in 1973 by Billie Jean King, is the principal organizing body of Women's Professional Tennis. It governs the WTA Tour which is the worldwide professional tennis tour for women. Its counterpart organization in the men's professional game is the Association of...
that her own ranking be removed immediately. As the top-seeded player at the French Open
2008 French Open - Women's Singles
Justine Henin was the defending champion, but retired from the sport on May 14, 2008.Ana Ivanović won in the final 6–4, 6–3, against Dinara Safina. This is Ivanovic's Third Grand Slam Final, Second French Open Final, and her First Grand Slam Singles Title...
Sharapova was within two points of being knocked out by Evgeniya Rodina
Evgeniya Rodina
Evgeniya Sergeyevna Rodina is a Russian professional tennis player. She achieved her career-high ranking of #74 on February 28, 2011.-Career summary:Rodina has made strong progress up through the world rankings to reach a career high of World No...
in the first round, before eventually winning. As a result of losing to Dinara Safina
Dinara Safina
Dinara Mikhailovna Safina , born April 27, 1986 in Moscow, is a Russian professional tennis player of Tatar background. Safina's career high ranking is World No. 1....
in the fourth round, she relinquished her no. 1 ranking. Her dip in form continued at Wimbledon, where she lost in the second round to world no. 154 Alla Kudryavtseva
Alla Kudryavtseva
Alla Alexandrovna Kudryavtseva is a professional tennis player from Russia. She currently lives in Moscow, where she is coached by Nick Rybakov...
. This was her earliest loss ever at Wimbledon, and at any Grand Slam in almost five years.
Sharapova withdrew from the Rogers Cup tournament in August due to a shoulder injury. An MRI
Magnetic resonance imaging
Magnetic resonance imaging , nuclear magnetic resonance imaging , or magnetic resonance tomography is a medical imaging technique used in radiology to visualize detailed internal structures...
scan revealed that she had been suffering from a rotator cuff tear
Rotator cuff tear
Rotator cuff tears are tears of one or more of the four tendons of the rotator cuff muscles. A rotator cuff injury can include any type of irritation or damage to the rotator cuff muscles or tendons....
since April, forcing her out of all tournaments for the rest of the season, including the Beijing Olympics
Tennis at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Tennis competitions at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing were held from August 10 to August 17 at the Olympic Green Tennis Centre. The DecoTurf surface rendered the event a hardcourt tournament....
, the US Open, and the WTA Tour Championships
2008 WTA Tour Championships
The 2008 WTA Tour Championships was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 38th edition of the year-end singles championships, the 33rd edition of the year-end doubles championships, and is part of the 2008 WTA Tour...
. In spite of that, she still finished the year ranked world no. 9. In October, after a failed attempt to rehabilitate the shoulder, Sharapova had surgery to repair the tear.
2009
Sharapova did not attempt to defend her Australian Open2009 Australian Open
The 2009 Australian Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 97th edition of the Australian Open, and the first Grand Slam event of the year. It took place at the Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia, from 19 January through 1 February 2009. The 2009 men's...
title, as she continued to recover from surgery. She returned to the sport in March, in the doubles tournament at the BNP Paribas Open, but she and partner Elena Vesnina
Elena Vesnina
Elena Sergeevna Vesnina is a professional female tennis player from Russia. Her career high rank was #22, achieved on 12 October 2009...
lost in the first round. After this, Sharapova withdrew from further singles tournaments, resulting in her standing in the world rankings being severely affected. She dropped out of the top 100 for the first time in six years in May, the nadir being world no. 126.
Playing her first singles tournament in nearly ten months, Sharapova made the quarterfinals of the clay-court Warsaw Open
Warsaw Open
The Warsaw Open, formerly the J&S Cup, is a tennis tournament on the WTA Tour held in Warsaw, Poland. Held since 1995, the tournament is played on outdoor clay courts. The event returned to the WTA Tour in 2009 after a year's hiatus.-Singles:...
in May, being beaten by Alona Bondarenko. The following week, in the first Grand Slam appearance since her surgery, she reached the quarterfinals of the French Open, before her run was ended by Dominika Cibulková
Dominika Cibulková
Dominika Cibulková is a Slovak professional tennis player. She is also a former World Junior No. 3, achieving that ranking in May 2005. Her career-high ranking of World No. 12 was achieved on 6 July 2009...
.
During the summer grass-court season playing in Birmingham, losing in the semifinals. Sharapova then played at the 2009 Wimbledon Championships
2009 Wimbledon Championships
The 2009 Wimbledon Championships took place on the outdoor grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, from Monday 22 June through to Sunday 5 July 2009...
as the 24th seed. She was upset in the second round by Gisela Dulko
Gisela Dulko
Gisela Dulko is an Argentine female tennis player, who will, as of 4 July 2011, be ranked World No. 51 in singles and No. 4 in doubles. Although she enjoyed a modest success in singles, reaching No. 26 on November 21, 2005, and winning four WTA Tour titles, her speciality has been doubles, where...
in three sets.
Sharapova enjoyed considerable success in the summer months, reaching the quarterfinals at the Bank of the West Classic
2009 Bank of the West Classic
The 2009 Bank of the West Classic was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 38th edition of the Bank of the West Classic, and was part of the WTA Premier tournaments of the 2009 WTA Tour. It took place at the Taube Tennis Center in Stanford, California, United States, from...
, the semifinals at the LA Women's Tennis Championships
2009 LA Women's Tennis Championships
The 2009 LA Women's Tennis Championships was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 36th edition of the LA Women's Tennis Championships, and was part of the Premier Series of the 2009 WTA Tour...
, and finishing runner-up at the Rogers Cup
2009 Rogers Cup
The 2009 Canada Masters was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 120th edition of the Canada Masters, and was part of the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 of the 2009 ATP World Tour, and of the Premier 5 of the 2009 WTA Tour...
to Elena Dementieva
Elena Dementieva
Elena Viatcheslavovna Dementieva is a retired Russian professional tennis player. Dementieva is most notable for winning the singles gold medal at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. She won 16 WTA singles titles and reached the finals of the 2004 French Open and 2004 US Open. Dementieva achieved a...
. Nevertheless, she was dealt her second straight early exit at the final Grand Slam of the year, losing to Melanie Oudin
Melanie Oudin
Melanie Oudin is an American tennis player and former World Junior No. 2. Her career high rank is World No. 31, which she achieved on April 19, 2010...
at the US Open
2009 US Open (tennis)
The 2009 US Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts, held from August 31 to September 14, 2009 in the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center at Flushing Meadows, New York City, United States. Originally, it was scheduled to end with the mens' singles final match on Sunday,...
, while committing 60 unforced errors and a personal-record 21 double faults.
The final stretch of the season brought Sharapova her first title of the year in Tokyo
2009 Toray Pan Pacific Open
The 2009 Toray Pan Pacific Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 26th edition of the Toray Pan Pacific Open, and was part of the Premier Series of the 2009 WTA Tour...
, after opponent Jelena Janković
Jelena Janković
Jelena Janković is a former world no. 1 professional tennis player from Serbia. She reached the final of the 2008 US Open and won the 2007 Wimbledon Mixed Doubles title. Janković is ranked world no...
retired after being down 2–5 to Sharapova in the final. By virtue of that result, she was the recipient of a bye at the China Open
2009 China Open (tennis)
The 2009 China Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 11th edition of the China Open, and was part of the ATP 500 Series of the 2009 ATP Tour, and of the Premier Series of the 2009 WTA Tour...
, but failed to use it to her advantage, losing to Peng Shuai
Peng Shuai
Peng Shuai is a Chinese professional female tennis player. She won a gold medal at the 2010 Asian Games, defeating Akgul Amanmuradova in the final...
in the third round. She ultimately finished the season at no. 14, having improved from no. 126 when she started her return.
2010
After playing two exhibition tournaments in Asia, Sharapova officially began her season at the Australian Open2010 Australian Open
The 2010 Australian Open was a tennis tournament that took place in Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia, from 18 to 31 January. It was the 98th edition of the Australian Open, and the first Grand Slam event of the year....
, where she was upset in her first-round match against Maria Kirilenko
Maria Kirilenko
Maria Yuryevna Kirilenko is a Russian professional tennis player. Kirilenko won her first WTA Tour title in 2005, defeating Anna-Lena Grönefeld in the China Open. Kirilenko reached no. 18, her career-high singles ranking, on the WTA tour in July 2008. She won the junior event at the 2002 Canadian...
. The loss meant that for the first time since 2003, Sharapova had lost her opening match at a Grand Slam event. She then rebounded by winning a smaller American event, the Cellular South Cup
2010 Regions Morgan Keegan Championships and the Cellular South Cup
The 2010 Regions Morgan Keegan Championships and the Cellular South Cup was an ATP World Tour and WTA Tour event held at the hardcourts of the Racquet Club of Memphis in Memphis, Tennessee, USA. It was the 34th edition of the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships and the 24th edition of the Cellular...
, her 21st career WTA title and first of the year.
At the BNP Paribas Open
2010 BNP Paribas Open
The 2010 BNP Paribas Open was a tennis tournament played at Indian Wells, California in March 2010. It was the 36th edition of the event, known this year as the BNP Paribas Open, and is classified as an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event on the 2010 ATP World Tour and a Premier Mandatory event on...
, Sharapova lost in the third round to Zheng Jie
Zheng Jie
Zheng Jie is a Chinese professional tennis player. Her career high ranking is World No. 15 which she achieved on May 18, 2009. As of August 15, 2011, Zheng is ranked World No. 65 in singles and World No. 20 in doubles....
, aggravating a bruised bone on her right elbow in the process, which resulted in her eventual withdrawal from the Sony Ericsson Open
2010 Sony Ericsson Open
The 2010 Sony Ericsson Open , was a tennis tournament for men and women held from March 22 to April 4, 2010. It was the 26th edition of the Miami Masters event and is played on outdoor hard courts at the Tennis Center at Crandon Park in Key Biscayne, Florida, located near Miami...
and the Family Circle Cup
2010 Family Circle Cup
The 2010 Family Circle Cup was a women's tennis event on the 2010 WTA Tour, which took place from April 12 to April 18. The event was hosted at the Family Circle Tennis Center, in Charleston, South Carolina, United States. It was the second and last event of the clay court season played on green clay...
.
Returning at the 2010 Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open
2010 Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open
The 2010 Madrid Masters was played on outdoor clay courts at the Park Manzanares in Madrid, Spain from May 7 – May 16. It was the 9th edition of the event on the ATP and 2nd on the WTA...
, Sharapova lost in the first round to Lucie Šafářová
Lucie Šafárová
Lucie Šafářová is a professional Czech tennis player. She was born in Brno.Šafářová has won four WTA tour singles titles and reached the quarterfinals of the 2007 Australian Open, upsetting defending champion Amélie Mauresmo en-route...
. She continued her French Open preparation at the Internationaux de Strasbourg
2010 Internationaux de Strasbourg
The 2010 Internationaux de Strasbourg was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay court. It was the 24th edition of the Internationaux de Strasbourg, and was part of the International-level tournaments of the 2010 WTA Tour...
as a wildcard, advancing to the final, where she beat Kristina Barrois
Kristina Barrois
Kristina Barrois is a professional German tennis player who has won two German Tennis Championships and reached the second round of all four Grand Slam events, as well as the final of two WTA tournaments. She lives in Urexweiler, Marpingen. Her career high rank is World No...
. This was her first title on red clay and 22nd overall title. At the French Open
2010 French Open
The 2010 French Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 109th edition of the French Open, and the second Grand Slam event of the year...
, Sharapova's brief clay season culminated with a third-round loss to four-time champion Justine Henin.
Sharapova began her preparations for Wimbledon at the AEGON Classic
2010 AEGON Classic
The 2010 AEGON Classic was a tennis tournament played on outdoor grass courts. It was the 29th edition of the event. It took place at the Edgbaston Priory Club in Birmingham, England, United Kingdom, from June 7 through June 13, 2010.-Seeds:...
. She advanced to the final for the fourth time, where she lost to Li Na
Li Na (tennis)
Li Na , goes first before the equivalent of a first name in some other nations. Her name off court in China is Li Na. When listed on the , she is known as Na Li. However, in the match, the commentators call her Li Na, and when her full name is listed in text on court, it is also written as Li Na.;...
. As the 16th seed at Wimbledon
2010 Wimbledon Championships
The 2010 Wimbledon Championships took place on the outdoor grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom. The tournament ran from Monday 21 June until Sunday 4 July 2010. It was the 124th staging of the Wimbledon Championships, and the third Grand...
, Sharapova lost in the fourth round to world no. 1 and eventual champion Serena Williams
Serena Williams
Serena Jameka Williams is an American professional tennis player and a former world no. 1. The Women's Tennis Association has ranked her world no. 1 in singles on five separate occasions. She became the world no. 1 for the first time on July 8, 2002 and regained this ranking for the fifth time on...
, 6-7(9), 4-6, despite having three set points in the opening set. The match was seen as another encouraging performance for Sharapova, with some stating their belief that she was approaching the form that would see her contending for Grand Slams once more, and Sharapova herself that stating she felt that she was "in a much better spot than I was last year."
During the US Open Series, Sharapova made two straight finals, losing to Victoria Azarenka
Victoria Azarenka
Victoria Azarenka is a Belarusian professional tennis player. Her career high and current ranking is world no. 3, which she first achieved on 12 September 2011. She became the highest-ranked Belarusian player ever, surpassing Natasha Zvereva by two spots....
at the Bank of the West Classic, and to Kim Clijsters
Kim Clijsters
Kim Antonie Lode Clijsters is a Belgian professional tennis player. As of 7 November 2011, Clijsters is ranked No. 13 in singles. Clijsters is a former World No. 1 in both singles and doubles....
at the Western & Southern Financial Group Women's Open
2010 Western & Southern Financial Group Women's Open – Singles
Jelena Janković was the defending champion, but lost in the third round to Akgul Amanmuradova.Kim Clijsters defeated Maria Sharapova in the final, 2–6, 7–6, 6–2, despite Sharapova having 3 match points.-Seeds:...
. In the latter match, Sharapova held three match points while leading 5–3 on Clijsters's serve late in the second set, but could not convert them.
At the U.S. Open
2010 US Open (tennis)
The 2010 US Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts, held from August 30 to September 13, 2010 in the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center at Flushing Meadows, Queens, New York City, United States....
, Sharapova was the 14th seed. She made it to the fourth round, where she played top seed Caroline Wozniacki
Caroline Wozniacki
Caroline Wozniacki is a Danish professional tennis player. She is the current world no. 1 on the WTA Tour. As of 7 November 2011, she has held this position for 56 weeks...
and lost, 3-6, 4-6.
Sharapova's last two tournaments of the season ended in disappointment. She played in the Toray Pan Pacific Open
2010 Toray Pan Pacific Open – Singles
Maria Sharapova was the defending champion, but lost in the first round to Japanese veteran Kimiko Date Krumm.Caroline Wozniacki won this event, after winning against Elena Dementieva 1–6, 6–2, 6–3 in the final.-Seeds:...
in Tokyo, where she was upset in the first round by 39-year-old Kimiko Date Krumm. Her last tournament of the year was the China Open
2010 China Open – Women's Singles
This event is the last of the WTA Premier Mandatory Tournaments in 2010. Caroline Wozniacki is this edition's top seed, followed by Vera Zvonareva....
, where she lost in the second round to fellow Russian Elena Vesnina
Elena Vesnina
Elena Sergeevna Vesnina is a professional female tennis player from Russia. Her career high rank was #22, achieved on 12 October 2009...
. Days later, she announced the end of her 2010 season. She ended the year at number 18 in the world.
2011
It was announced that Sharapova would bring in Thomas Hogstedt as a coach for the 2011 season, joining Michael Joyce. On December 5, Sharapova played an exhibition match against world no. 2 Vera ZvonarevaVera Zvonareva
Vera Zvonareva is a professional tennis player from Russia. She was introduced to tennis at the age of six and turned professional in 2000. Her career high is World No. 2 by the WTA, and she is currently ranked as the World No. 7. Zvonarёva has won twelve WTA Tour singles titles and reached the...
in Monterrey, Mexico. She won the match, 6–1, 7–5.
Sharapova confirmed that her first tournament of the year would be at the 2011 ASB Classic
2011 ASB Classic
The 2011 ASB Classic was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 26th edition of the ASB Classic, and was part of the WTA International tournaments of the 2011 WTA Tour...
in Auckland, New Zealand, held from January 4 to 9. She also announced that she would be leading the Russia Fed Cup team
Russia Fed Cup team
The Russia Fed Cup team represents Russia in Fed Cup tennis competition and are governed by the Russian Tennis Federation. They currently compete in the World Group.- Current Team :* Maria Sharapova * Elena Vesnina...
against France
France Fed Cup team
The France Fed Cup team represents France in Fed Cup tennis competition and are governed by the Fédération Française de Tennis. They currently compete in the World Group.-Current Team:* Alizé Cornet* Mathilde Johansson* Pauline Parmentier...
in February in their first-round tie.
In Sharapova's first ever official Australian Open warm-up tournament at the 2011 ASB Classic
2011 ASB Classic – Singles
Yanina Wickmayer was the defending champion and 2nd seed, but she lost in the final 3–6, 3–6, against Gréta Arn.-Seeds:# Maria Sharapova # Yanina Wickmayer # Svetlana Kuznetsova # Julia Görges ...
in Auckland, New Zealand, she was seeded first. She was defeated in the quarterfinals by the Hungarian veteran and eventual champion Gréta Arn
Gréta Arn
Gréta Arn is a professional tennis player from Hungary, and the current Hungarian No. 1. Arn turned professional in 1997....
, 2–6, 5–7. After the ASB Classic Sharapova decided to take a hiatus from Joyce's coaching, despite having worked together for a number of years, including during her successful years where she became a multiple Grand Slam champion.
Sharapova participated in the first Grand Slam of the season at the Australian Open, where she was the 14th seeded player. She made it to the fourth round, where she lost to Andrea Petkovic
Andrea Petkovic
Andrea Petkovic is a professional German tennis player of Serbian origin. She is the highest ranked German tennis player. She lives in Griesheim near Darmstadt, Germany....
, 2–6, 3–6.
Sharapova's next appearance was at the 2011 Fed Cup
2011 Fed Cup
The 2011 Fed Cup is the 49th edition of the most important tournament between national teams in women's tennis...
tie against France, which she lost to Virginie Razzano
Virginie Razzano
Virginie Razzano , is a French professional tennis player and the current French No. 4. Razzano, who was born in Dijon, has won two WTA singles titles, both in 2007 in Guangzhou and Tokyo. Razzano reached her career high ranking of World No. 16 on September 14, 2009. As of May 2011, she is ranked...
, 3–6, 4–6. She then withdrew from the 2011 Open GDF Suez
2011 Open GDF Suez
The 2011 Open GDF Suez was a women's professional tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It was the 19th edition of the Open GDF Suez and was a Premier tournament on the 2011 WTA Tour...
in Paris because of viral illness. She also had to pull out of the 2011 Dubai Tennis Championships
2011 Dubai Tennis Championships
The 2011 Dubai Tennis Championships was a 500 Series event on the 2011 ATP World Tour and a Premier 5 event on the 2011 WTA Tour. The tournament was known as the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships for sponsorship reasons...
and 2011 Qatar Ladies Open
2011 Qatar Ladies Open
The 2011 Qatar Ladies Open was a professional tennis tournament played on hard courts. It was the ninth edition of the tournament and the first since 2008 which was part of the 2011 WTA Tour...
due to an ear infection.
Sharapova returned to the tour in March by taking part in the first premier mandatory tournament of the year, the 2011 BNP Paribas Open
2011 BNP Paribas Open
The 2011 BNP Paribas Open was a tennis tournament played at Indian Wells, California in March 2011. It was the 36th edition of the event, known as the BNP Paribas Open, and was classified as an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event on the 2011 ATP World Tour and a Premier Mandatory event on the 2011...
, where she was seeded 16th. She lost in the semifinal to world no. 1 Caroline Wozniacki
Caroline Wozniacki
Caroline Wozniacki is a Danish professional tennis player. She is the current world no. 1 on the WTA Tour. As of 7 November 2011, she has held this position for 56 weeks...
, 1–6, 2–6. With this result, Sharapova returned to the top 10 for the first time since February, 2009.
Sharapova's next tournament was the second premier mandatory tournament, the 2011 Sony Ericsson Open
2011 Sony Ericsson Open
The 2011 Sony Ericsson Open , a men's and women's tennis tournament, was held from March 21 to April 3, 2011. It was the 27th edition of the Miami Masters event and played on outdoor hard courts at the Tennis Center at Crandon Park in Miami...
in Key Biscayne, Miami. Seeded 16th, she defeated 26th seed Alexandra Dulgheru
Alexandra Dulgheru
Alexandra Dulgheru is a Romanian professional tennis player. She achieved a singles career high of World No. 26 on April 11, 2011. Her career high in doubles was World No. 47 on March 21, 2011.She is coached by Gabriel Urpi.-Biography:...
in the quarterfinals in a match that lasted 3 hours and 28 minutes, the longest match of her career, and though twisting her left ankle while serving at 5–5 in the third set, she won, 3–6, 7–6(6), 7–6(5). In the semifinals, she defeated Andrea Petkovic
Andrea Petkovic
Andrea Petkovic is a professional German tennis player of Serbian origin. She is the highest ranked German tennis player. She lives in Griesheim near Darmstadt, Germany....
, 3–6, 6–0, 6–2. In the final, her shaky and error-prone form resulted in a loss to Victoria Azarenka
Victoria Azarenka
Victoria Azarenka is a Belarusian professional tennis player. Her career high and current ranking is world no. 3, which she first achieved on 12 September 2011. She became the highest-ranked Belarusian player ever, surpassing Natasha Zvereva by two spots....
, 1–6, 4–6, despite a late comeback in the second set.
Because of Sharapova's refusal of her wildcard offer to the 2011 Family Circle Cup
2011 Family Circle Cup
The 2011 Family Circle Cup was a women's tennis event on the 2011 WTA Tour. It took place from April 4 to April 10, 2011. It was the 39th edition of the tournament and one of the Premier level tournaments. The event was hosted at the Family Circle Tennis Center, in Charleston, South Carolina,...
, her clay season was scheduled to begin at the third premier mandatory tournament at the 2011 Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open, where she was seeded 8th. She lost to Dominika Cibulková
Dominika Cibulková
Dominika Cibulková is a Slovak professional tennis player. She is also a former World Junior No. 3, achieving that ranking in May 2005. Her career-high ranking of World No. 12 was achieved on 6 July 2009...
, 5–7, 4–6, in the third round.
Sharapova's next tournament was the 2011 Internazionali BNL d'Italia
2011 Internazionali BNL d'Italia
The 2011 Internazionali BNL d'Italia was a tennis tournament, being played on outdoor clay courts at the Foro Italico in Rome, Italy. It was the 68th edition of the event and was classified as an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event on the 2011 ATP World Tour and a Premier 5 event on the 2011 WTA Tour...
, where she was seeded seventh. She defeated world no. 7 Samantha Stosur
Samantha Stosur
Samantha "Sam" Jane Stosur is an Australian professional tennis player. She won the 2011 US Open singles title and was a finalist at the 2010 French Open. Stosur is ranked World No. 6 and her career high in singles is World No. 4, achieved on 21 February 2011. She is a former world No...
, 6–2, 6–4, to take home the title, marking her biggest clay-court victory to date. With this, Sharapova overtakes Stosur as the World No. 7, her highest position since November, 2008.
Sharapova's next tournament was the 2011 French Open
2011 French Open
The 2011 French Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 110th edition of the French Open, and the second Grand Slam event of the year...
, where she was seeded seventh. She defeated 15th seed Andrea Petkovic
Andrea Petkovic
Andrea Petkovic is a professional German tennis player of Serbian origin. She is the highest ranked German tennis player. She lives in Griesheim near Darmstadt, Germany....
, 6–0, 6–3, in the quarterfinals, marking her first grand slam semifinals since her comeback from the career-threatening shoulder injury. She then struggled to play in the strong winds, making a myriad of unforced errors and double faults on her way to a loss to 6th seed and eventual champion Li Na
Li Na (tennis)
Li Na , goes first before the equivalent of a first name in some other nations. Her name off court in China is Li Na. When listed on the , she is known as Na Li. However, in the match, the commentators call her Li Na, and when her full name is listed in text on court, it is also written as Li Na.;...
, 4–6, 5–7 in the semifinals, subsequently ending her clay season with a win-loss of 12–2. This marks her most successful clay season to date. In addition, due to the semifinal appearance at Roland Garros, Sharapova moved up to world no. 6, for her highest position since November, 2008.
After her loss at Roland Garros, Sharapova withdrew from the AEGON Classic, citing illness. She then participated at the 2011 Wimbledon Championships
2011 Wimbledon Championships
The 2011 Wimbledon Championships took place at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, England, from 20 June to 3 July 2011. It was the 125th edition of the championships, and the third Grand Slam tournament of the year. It was played on grass courts and was part of the...
, where she was seeded fifth. She had not dropped a set in the tournament entering the final, beating compatriot Anna Chakvetadze
Anna Chakvetadze
Anna Djambulilovna Chakvetadze is a Russian professional tennis player . On September 10, 2007, she reached her career-high professional singles ranking of World No. 5. She has won eight WTA Singles Titles and appeared in the 2007 US Open semifinals. As of July 4, 2011, Chakvetadze is ranked World...
, Laura Robson
Laura Robson
Laura Robson is a British tennis player. She debuted on the International Tennis Federation junior tour in 2007, and a year later won the Wimbledon Junior Girls' Championship at the age of 14. As a junior, she also twice reached the final of the Australian Open, in 2009 and 2010. She won her...
, Klara Zakopalova, 20th seed Shuai Peng, 24th seed Dominika Cibulková
Dominika Cibulková
Dominika Cibulková is a Slovak professional tennis player. She is also a former World Junior No. 3, achieving that ranking in May 2005. Her career-high ranking of World No. 12 was achieved on 6 July 2009...
, and resurgent Sabine Lisicki
Sabine Lisicki
Sabine Lisicki is a German professional tennis player of Polish background.Lisicki has won three WTA singles tournaments in her career and one doubles tournament . She reached the semifinals of the 2011 Wimbledon Championships and also reached the quarterfinals of the 2009 Wimbledon Championships...
along the way. She then lost to eighth seed Petra Kvitová
Petra Kvitová
Petra Kvitová is a Czech professional tennis player. She has won seven WTA singles titles. As of 31 October 2011, she is ranked World No. 2. Kvitová won the 2011 Wimbledon Championships and the 2011 WTA Tour Championships singles titles...
in straight sets, 3–6, 4–6. With this result, Sharapova moved up to world no. 5, which is the highest position she has reached since her comeback from her shoulder injury. It is also her highest position since the 2008 US Open.
Sharapova competed at the 2011 Bank of the West Classic
2011 Bank of the West Classic
The 2011 Bank of the West Classic was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 40th edition of the Bank of the West Classic, and was a part of the WTA Premier tournaments of the 2011 WTA Tour. It took place at the Taube Tennis Center in Stanford, California, United States, from...
in Stanford, USA to begin her 2011 US Open Series
2011 US Open Series
The eighth edition of the US Open Series , includes ten hard court tournaments that start on July 18, 2011 in Atlanta and will end in Winston-Salem for the men and in New Haven for the women on August 28, 2011...
campaign. As she was seeded second, she received a bye into the second round, where she defeated Daniela Hantuchová
Daniela Hantuchová
Daniela Hantuchová is a Slovak professional tennis player. She turned professional in 1999 and had her breakthrough year in 2002, when she won her first Tier I tournament and ended the year in the top 10.She is currently coached by Larri Passos...
, 6–2, 2–6, 6–4, to advance to the quarterfinals. In a highly anticipated match, Sharapova lost to fellow multiple Grand Slam champion Serena Williams
Serena Williams
Serena Jameka Williams is an American professional tennis player and a former world no. 1. The Women's Tennis Association has ranked her world no. 1 in singles on five separate occasions. She became the world no. 1 for the first time on July 8, 2002 and regained this ranking for the fifth time on...
, 1–6, 3–6, in the quarterfinals. Serena Williams
Serena Williams
Serena Jameka Williams is an American professional tennis player and a former world no. 1. The Women's Tennis Association has ranked her world no. 1 in singles on five separate occasions. She became the world no. 1 for the first time on July 8, 2002 and regained this ranking for the fifth time on...
was the eventual champion.
Sharapova then entered the 2011 Rogers Cup
2011 Rogers Cup – Women's Singles
Caroline Wozniacki was the defending champion, but lost to Roberta Vinci in the second round. Serena Williams won the title by beating Samantha Stosur 6–4, 6–2 in the final.-Seeds:The top eight seeds receive a bye into the second round....
in Toronto, Canada. As the fifth seed, she received a bye into the second round, where she defeated Bojana Jovanovski
Bojana Jovanovski
Bojana Jovanovski is a Serbian tennis player. As of 24 October 2011, Jovanovski is ranked World No. 56 and is the third highest ranked Serbian player, after World No. 14 Jelena Janković and No. 26 Ana Ivanović...
, 6–1, 7–5. In the third round, she lost to Galina Voskoboeva
Galina Voskoboeva
Galina Olegovna Voskoboeva is a professional Russian-born Kazakhstani tennis player. She reached her career-high singles rank of World No. 56 on October 10, 2011. Her career high in doubles is 31st, set at January 29, 2007.-Early life:...
, 3–6, 5–7, marking her 100th career loss.
Sharapova then contested at the 2011 Western & Southern Open
2011 Western & Southern Open – Women's Singles
Kim Clijsters was the defending champion, but withdrew due to an abdominal injury.Maria Sharapova won the tournament, defeating Jelena Janković 4–6, 7–6, 6–3 in the final.-Seeds:The top eight seeds received a bye into the second round....
held in Cincinnati, Ohio. As the fourth seed, she received a bye into the second round. On the way to her fourth final of the year, she beat Anastasia Rodionova, 6–1, 6–3, 14th seed Svetlana Kuznetsova
Svetlana Kuznetsova
Svetlana Aleksandrovna Kuznetsova ; born June 27, 1985) is a Russian professional tennis player and as of October 10, 2011 ranked No. 21 in the WTA singles and No. 90 in the doubles ranking. Kuznetsova has appeared in four singles Grand Slam finals, winning two, and has also appeared in six doubles...
, 6–2, 6–3, 10th seed Samantha Stosur
Samantha Stosur
Samantha "Sam" Jane Stosur is an Australian professional tennis player. She won the 2011 US Open singles title and was a finalist at the 2010 French Open. Stosur is ranked World No. 6 and her career high in singles is World No. 4, achieved on 21 February 2011. She is a former world No...
, 6–3, 6–2, and second seed Vera Zvonareva
Vera Zvonareva
Vera Zvonareva is a professional tennis player from Russia. She was introduced to tennis at the age of six and turned professional in 2000. Her career high is World No. 2 by the WTA, and she is currently ranked as the World No. 7. Zvonarёva has won twelve WTA Tour singles titles and reached the...
, 2–6, 6–3, 6–3. In the final, she defeated fellow former world no. 1 Jelena Jankovic
Jelena Janković
Jelena Janković is a former world no. 1 professional tennis player from Serbia. She reached the final of the 2008 US Open and won the 2007 Wimbledon Mixed Doubles title. Janković is ranked world no...
, 4–6, 7–6(3), 6–3, in 2 hours and 49 minutes, making it the longest WTA tour final of the year. She subsequently moved up to world no. 4, her highest ranking since August, 2008 and the highest since her comeback from her shoulder injury.
Sharapova then entered the final Grand Slam of the year, the US Open, where she was seeded third. She beat British up-and-comer Heather Watson
Heather Watson
Heather Miriam Watson is a British female tennis player. Born in Guernsey, she trains and resides at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Florida, USA. Watson has won one major title at the 2009 US Open Juniors, two senior ITF titles and won gold at the 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games. She has...
, 3–6, 7–5, 6–3, and Anastasiya Yakimova
Anastasiya Yakimova
Anastasiya Yakimova is a female tennis player from Belarus. She made it to the third round of the 2007 Australian Open, defeating Ai Sugiyama of Japan, a seeded player, on the way in the second round.-2009:...
, 6–1, 6–1, to reach the third round. She was then upset by Flavia Pennetta
Flavia Pennetta
Flavia Pennetta is an Italian professional tennis player. She became Italy's first top 10 female singles player on 17 August 2009 and also the first ever Italian Tennis player to be ranked No.1 in Doubles on 28 February 2011. As of 10 October 2011, Pennetta is ranked World No. 18 in singles and...
in the third round, 3-6, 6-3, 4-6. However, because of the fall of Kim Clijsters
Kim Clijsters
Kim Antonie Lode Clijsters is a Belgian professional tennis player. As of 7 November 2011, Clijsters is ranked No. 13 in singles. Clijsters is a former World No. 1 in both singles and doubles....
and Vera Zvonareva
Vera Zvonareva
Vera Zvonareva is a professional tennis player from Russia. She was introduced to tennis at the age of six and turned professional in 2000. Her career high is World No. 2 by the WTA, and she is currently ranked as the World No. 7. Zvonarёva has won twelve WTA Tour singles titles and reached the...
in the rankings, Sharapova climbed to world no. 2.
Sharapova next tournament was the 2011 Toray Pan Pacific Open
2011 Toray Pan Pacific Open
The 2011 Toray Pan Pacific Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 28th edition of the Toray Pan Pacific Open, and was part of the Premier Series of the 2011 WTA Tour...
in Tokyo, Japan. As the second seed, she received a bye into the second round, where she beat Tamarine Tanasugarn
Tamarine Tanasugarn
Tamarine Tanasugarn is a professional Thai tennis player. She was born in Los Angeles, United States, and turned professional in 1994. She has been in the top 20 in both singles and doubles....
, 6–2, 7–5. She then beat 13th seed Julia Goerges, 7–6(4), 7–6(4), before retiring against Petra Kvitova
Petra Kvitová
Petra Kvitová is a Czech professional tennis player. She has won seven WTA singles titles. As of 31 October 2011, she is ranked World No. 2. Kvitová won the 2011 Wimbledon Championships and the 2011 WTA Tour Championships singles titles...
in the quarterfinal, 3–4, after slipping on the baseline. This also forced her to withdraw from the 2011 China Open
2011 China Open (tennis)
The 2011 China Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 13th edition of the China Open, and was part of the ATP 500 Series of the 2011 ATP World Tour, and of the Premier Series of the 2011 WTA Tour...
the following week. Sharapova didn't enter any following tournaments. Instead, she flew to Istanbul, Turkey to prepare for the upcoming 2011 WTA Tour Championships
2011 WTA Tour Championships
The 2011 WTA Tour Championships was a tennis tournament to be played at Istanbul, Turkey from October 25 to October 30, 2011. It was the first time Turkey hosted the WTA Tour Championships. It was the 41st edition of the singles event and the 36th edition of the doubles competition...
. During the WTA Tour Championships, Sharapova withdrew during the Round Robin after her defeat against Li Na
Li Na (tennis)
Li Na , goes first before the equivalent of a first name in some other nations. Her name off court in China is Li Na. When listed on the , she is known as Na Li. However, in the match, the commentators call her Li Na, and when her full name is listed in text on court, it is also written as Li Na.;...
6-7(4) 4-6, due to the ankle injury she suffered in Tokyo earlier on in the year.
Sharapova will end the year number 4 in the world, her first top 10 finish since 2008 and first top 5 finish since 2007.
Fed Cup participation
Fed Cup
Fed Cup is the premier team competition in women's tennis, launched in 1963 to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the International Tennis Federation...
for Russia. However, the behavior of Sharapova's father during her matches on the WTA Tour, combined with a perceived lack of commitment by her to the Fed Cup, has made her selection for the Russian Fed Cup team
Russia Fed Cup team
The Russia Fed Cup team represents Russia in Fed Cup tennis competition and are governed by the Russian Tennis Federation. They currently compete in the World Group.- Current Team :* Maria Sharapova * Elena Vesnina...
cause controversy in the past.
After Sharapova had beaten fellow Russian Anastasia Myskina
Anastasia Myskina
Anastasiya Andreyevna Myskina is a professional tennis player from Russia. She won the 2004 French Open singles title, becoming the first Russian female tennis player to win a Grand Slam main draw singles title. Subsequent to this victory she rose to number 3 on the WTA ranking, becoming the first...
at the 2004 WTA Tour Championships
2004 WTA Tour Championships
The 2004 WTA Tour Championships were held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, United States.-Singles: Maria Sharapova def. Serena Williams, 4–6, 6–2, 6–4-Doubles:...
, Myskina criticized Sharapova's father, saying: "He was just yelling and screaming instructions to her and I thought he just might jump right on the court at one point in the match." At the Fed Cup semi-finals two weeks later Myskina stated she would stop playing for Russia if Sharapova joined the Russian team the following season: "If she joins our team next season you won't see me there for sure. His behaviour is totally incorrect, simply rude. I don't want to be around people like him." Larisa Neiland
Larisa Neiland
Larisa Savchenko Neiland is a former tennis player who represented Latvia. A former number-one ranked doubles player, Neiland won two women's doubles Grand Slam titles. She also won two singles titles and sixty-five doubles titles.-Career:Neiland turned professional in 1983...
, assistant to Russia Fed Cup captain Shamil Tarpishchev, added: "Her father's behaviour (at the WTA Tour Championships) was simply outrageous. I just don't see how he could work with the rest of us." However Tarpishchev himself played down the problem, insisting: "I feel that things will calm down soon and we'll have Myskina, Sharapova, Kuznetsova and everyone else playing for Russia."
At the end of 2005, Sharapova stated she was now keen to make her Fed Cup debut and was set to play against Belgium in April 2006, but withdrew.
Sharapova later withdrew from ties against Spain in April 2007 and against the United States in July 2007 because of injuries. The latter withdrawal led to Russia's captain saying she would be "ineligible for selection" for the Fed Cup final in September. However, Sharapova attended the final, cheering from the sidelines and acting as a "hitting partner" in practices, resulting in some of her Russian teammates implying that she was attending only to enable her to play at the 2008 Beijing Olympics
Tennis at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Tennis competitions at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing were held from August 10 to August 17 at the Olympic Green Tennis Centre. The DecoTurf surface rendered the event a hardcourt tournament....
(rules state that players must have "shown commitment" to Fed Cup in order to play). Svetlana Kuznetsova
Svetlana Kuznetsova
Svetlana Aleksandrovna Kuznetsova ; born June 27, 1985) is a Russian professional tennis player and as of October 10, 2011 ranked No. 21 in the WTA singles and No. 90 in the doubles ranking. Kuznetsova has appeared in four singles Grand Slam finals, winning two, and has also appeared in six doubles...
said, "She said she wanted to be our practice partner but if you can't play how then can you practice?"
Sharapova finally made her Fed Cup debut in February 2008, in Russia's quarterfinal tie against Israel
Israel Fed Cup team
The Israel Fed Cup team is the representative national team of Israel in Fed Cup competition. In the 2007 Fed Cup, they qualified from the World Group II and World Group Play-offs to reach the elite World Group for the first time in the team's history. They will participate within this group at...
. She won both her singles rubbers, against Tzipora Obziler
Tzipora Obziler
Tzipora Obziler is a former professional right-handed tennis player.She reached her career-high singles world ranking of #75 in on July 8, 2007, and doubles ranking of #149 on April 10, 2000....
and Shahar Pe'er
Shahar Pe'er
Shahar Pe'er is an Israeli professional tennis player. Her career-high singles ranking is World No. 11, which she achieved on January 31, 2011 ....
, helping Russia to a 4–1 victory. For the semifinals, she was given permission to skip the tie, with Tarpishchev announcing that she will be on the team for the final. However, the date of the final coincided with the lay-off from her shoulder injury, and thus she did not play.
In the 2011 first round tie, Maria played Virginie Razzano
Virginie Razzano
Virginie Razzano , is a French professional tennis player and the current French No. 4. Razzano, who was born in Dijon, has won two WTA singles titles, both in 2007 in Guangzhou and Tokyo. Razzano reached her career high ranking of World No. 16 on September 14, 2009. As of May 2011, she is ranked...
of France and lost. Maria was supposed to play Alize Cornet
Alizé Cornet
Alizé Cornet is a French professional tennis player and the current French number three . She was born in Nice, Alpes-Maritimes, and has a career-high ranking of No. 11, achieved on 16 February 2009; as of 4 July 2011 she is ranked World No. 69...
, but Sharapova was suffering from a viral illness. So teammate, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova played instead of Sharapova where she would go to help Russia come back from their 0–2 deficit by beating Alize Cornet 3–6 6–3 6–2 and secure the win for Russia against France 3–2.
Playing style
Sharapova is an aggressive baseliner, with power, depth, and angles on her forehand and backhand. Additionally, she is one of the few players on the WTA who uses the reverse forehand a lot. Instead of using a traditional volleyVolley (tennis)
A volley in tennis is a shot in which the ball is struck before it bounces on the ground. Generally a player hits a volley while standing near the net, although it can be executed farther back, in the middle of the tennis court or even near the baseline....
or overhead smash
Smash (tennis)
A smash in tennis is a shot that is hit above the head with a serve-like motion. A smash can usually be hit with great force relatively safely and is often a shot that ends the point. Most smashes are hit fairly near the net or in mid-court before the ball bounces, generally against lobs that have...
, she often prefers to hit a powerful "swinging" volley when approaching the net or attacking lobs
Lob (tennis)
A lob in tennis is hitting the ball high and deep into the opponent's court. It can be used as an offensive or defensive weapon depending on the situation.-History:...
. Sharapova is thought to have good speed around the court, especially considering her height. At the beginning of 2008, some observers noted that Sharapova had developed her game, showing improved movement and footwork and the addition of a drop shot
Drop shot
A drop shot in tennis is slicing, putting a backspin on the ball just over the net. A good drop shot travels such that the opponent is unable to run fast enough to retrieve it....
and sliced backhand to her repertoire of shots. Despite her powerful game, Sharapova's greatest asset is considered to be her mental toughness and competitive spirit, with Nick Bollettieri stating that she is "tough as nails". Hall-of-famer John McEnroe
John McEnroe
John Patrick McEnroe, Jr. is a former world no. 1 professional tennis player from the United States. During his career, he won seven Grand Slam singles titles , nine Grand Slam men's doubles titles, and one Grand Slam mixed doubles title...
said of Sharapova, "she's one of the best competitors in the history of the sport." Sharapova is known for on-court "grunting
Grunting (tennis)
Grunting in tennis refers to the loud noise, sometimes described as "shrieking" or "screaming", made by some players during their strokes. It is prominent in women's tennis but also exists in men's tennis...
", which reached a recorded 101 decibel
Decibel
The decibel is a logarithmic unit that indicates the ratio of a physical quantity relative to a specified or implied reference level. A ratio in decibels is ten times the logarithm to base 10 of the ratio of two power quantities...
s during a match at Wimbledon in 2005
2005 Wimbledon Championships
The 2005 Wimbledon Championships was the 119 edition. It was held at the All England Club between 20 June and 3 July.Roger Federer successfully defended the men's singles crown defeating Andy Roddick in straight sets. Whilst Venus Williams and Lindsay Davenport played the longest women's final in...
. During her second round match in Birmingham in 2003, Sharapova was asked to tone down the level of her grunt after opponent Nathalie Dechy
Nathalie Dechy
Nathalie Dechy is a French former professional tour tennis player.Dechy is a three-time doubles Grand Slam champion, winning the 2006 US Open women's doubles title with Vera Zvonareva, the 2007 French Open mixed doubles title with Andy Ram, and the 2007 US Open women's doubles title with Dinara...
complained to the umpire, with Sharapova's response saying that her grunting was "a natural instinct." Monica Seles
Monica Seles
Monica Seles is a former world no. 1 professional tennis player and a member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame. She was born in Novi Sad, Serbia, former Yugoslavia to Hungarian parents. She became a naturalized United States citizen in 1994 and also received Hungarian citizenship in June 2007...
suggested that grunting is involuntary and a part of tennis. When questioned by the media about her grunting, Sharapova urged the media to "just watch the match." Her defensive game has been worked on by her new coach, and this has reflected in her results, making consecutive semi-finals at premier mandatory events on the tour.
Serve
Tracy Austin
Tracy Ann Austin Holt is a former World No. 1 female professional tennis player from the United States who won the women's singles title at the US Open in 1979 and 1981 and the mixed doubles title at Wimbledon in 1980, before a series of injuries cut her career short.-To 1980:Austin defeated...
believes that Sharapova often loses confidence in the rest of her game when she experiences problems with her serve and consequently produces more unforced errors and generally plays more tentatively, while tennis writer Joel Drucker remarked that her serve was the "catalyst for her entire game", and that her struggles with it left her "unmasked."
In her return from layoff in 2008 to 2009, she used an abbreviated motion, which was somewhat less powerful, and though producing aces also gave a very high number of double faults. After her early loss at the 2009 US Open
2009 US Open (tennis)
The 2009 US Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts, held from August 31 to September 14, 2009 in the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center at Flushing Meadows, New York City, United States. Originally, it was scheduled to end with the mens' singles final match on Sunday,...
, Sharapova returned to a more elongated motion, similar to her pre-surgery serve. She has since been able to produce speeds greater than before, including a 121 mph serve hit at the Birmingham tournament in 2010 – the fastest serve of her career.
However since her shoulder operation Sharapova has been unable to control her serve. This led to numerous of faults, as she can't feel how much power she is generating. The new action led to an elbow injury but under Thomas Hogstedt it has improved but can still be erratic.
Surfaces
Because she predicates her game on power, Sharapova's preferred surfaces are the fast-playing hard and grass courts, as evident through her 24 victories on hard court and grass court. This is most notable when she won the 2004 Wimbledon, 2006 U.S. Open and 2008 Australian Open2008 Australian Open
The 2008 Australian Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 96th edition of the Australian Open, and the first Grand Slam event of the year. It took place at the Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia, from 14 through 27 January 2008.After twenty years of playing on...
crowns, where she had her career breakthrough and played her peak tennis level, respectively.
Sharapova, however, is not as well-suited to the slower clay courts as she is on hard and grass courts. Sharapova has admitted that she is not as comfortable with her movement on clay compared with other court surfaces and once described herself as like a "cow on ice" after a match on clay, due to her inability to slide. Despite this, she has shown improvement on this surface with respect to experience, as evident with her first WTA red clay title at the 2010 Internationaux de Strasbourg
2010 Internationaux de Strasbourg
The 2010 Internationaux de Strasbourg was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay court. It was the 24th edition of the Internationaux de Strasbourg, and was part of the International-level tournaments of the 2010 WTA Tour...
, 7 years since playing on the WTA circuit. Less than a year later, she won her biggest red clay title at the Tier I 2011 Internazionali BNL d'Italia
2011 Internazionali BNL d'Italia
The 2011 Internazionali BNL d'Italia was a tennis tournament, being played on outdoor clay courts at the Foro Italico in Rome, Italy. It was the 68th edition of the event and was classified as an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event on the 2011 ATP World Tour and a Premier 5 event on the 2011 WTA Tour...
.
Ground strokes and net-play
Sharapova is also known for her phenomenally accurate and powerful groundstrokes. She has a powerful forehand which tends to set up points and create successful winners. Sharapova occasionally utilizes a reverse follow-through on her forehand, similar to that of Lindsay DavenportLindsay Davenport
Lindsay Ann Davenport is a former World No. 1 American professional tennis player. She has won three Grand Slam singles tournaments and an Olympic gold medal in singles. In 2005, TENNIS Magazine ranked her as the 29th-best player of the preceding forty years...
and Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal
Rafael "Rafa" Nadal Parera is a Spanish professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. , he is ranked No. 2 by the Association of Tennis Professionals...
, which allows her to hit the ball later than normal and add top-spin, while it can also lead to timing issues resulting in errors. The backhand, although not as dominant in setting points up, is her more reliable shot with many tennis analysts considering this to be her best asset, and one of tennis' great shots. Her net play is good when on the attack, often she will choose to drive the volley instead of slice volleys, but this is not seen as a strength—this seems to be continually worked on.
Personal life
Sharapova has lived in the United States since moving there at the age of seven. She has a home in Manhattan Beach, CaliforniaManhattan Beach, California
Manhattan Beach is the wealthiest beachfront city located in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, USA. The city is on the Pacific coast, south of El Segundo, and north of Hermosa Beach. Manhattan Beach is the home of both beach and indoor volleyball, and surfing. During the winter, the...
.
Sharapova lists fashion, movies, music and reading the Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective created by Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The fantastic London-based "consulting detective", Holmes is famous for his astute logical reasoning, his ability to take almost any disguise, and his use of forensic science skills to solve...
and Pippi Longstocking
Pippi Longstocking
Pippi Longstocking is a fictional character in a series of children's books by Swedish author Astrid Lindgren, and adapted into multiple films and television series...
series as among her off-court interests, while she has also talked in the past about how she takes hip-hop dance classes. Sharapova has a Pomeranian named Dolce, which means "sweet" in Italian. Sharapova is also a stamp collector
Stamp collecting
Stamp collecting is the collecting of postage stamps and related objects. It is one of the world's most popular hobbies, with the number of collectors in the United States alone estimated to be over 20 million.- Collecting :...
and has a "huge collection" compiled since she was a child.
Sharapova is engaged to Slovenian professional basketball player Sasha Vujačić
Sasha Vujacic
Aleksandar "Sasha" Vujačić is a Slovenian basketball player who has played in Italy, the United States , and more recently for Anadolu Efes S.K. in Turkey...
(Saša Vujačič, Саша Вујачић), who plays for the Anadolu Efes S.K.. The two have been dating since 2009.
At the 2004 US Open, Sharapova, along with several other Russian female tennis players, wore a black ribbon in observance of the tragedy after the Beslan school hostage crisis
Beslan school hostage crisis
The Beslan school hostage crisis of early September 2004 was a three-day hostage-taking of over 1,100 people which ended in the deaths of over 380...
, which took place only days before.
In addition, with Angela Haynes
Angela Haynes
Angela Haynes is a professional tennis player from the United States. Haynes's top WTA singles ranking is World No. 95 which she attained in August, 2005. Angela is currently ranked World No. 158, race-singles World No. 260 and World No...
, Maria Kirilenko
Maria Kirilenko
Maria Yuryevna Kirilenko is a Russian professional tennis player. Kirilenko won her first WTA Tour title in 2005, defeating Anna-Lena Grönefeld in the China Open. Kirilenko reached no. 18, her career-high singles ranking, on the WTA tour in July 2008. She won the junior event at the 2002 Canadian...
, Nicole Vaidišová
Nicole Vaidišová
Nicole Vaidišová is a retired Czech tennis player.Vaidišová was an Australian Open and French Open semifinalist and also reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon. Vaidišová started playing tennis when she was six years old, enrolling to train at Nick Bollettieri's tennis academy in Bradenton,...
, Rennae Stubbs
Rennae Stubbs
Rennae Stubbs is an Australian tennis player. She has won several Grand Slam doubles titles and represented Australia at four successive Olympic Games; Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000, Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008....
, Governor Jeb Bush
Jeb Bush
John Ellis "Jeb" Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd Governor of Florida from 1999 to 2007. He is a prominent member of the Bush family: the second son of former President George H. W. Bush and former First Lady Barbara Bush; the younger brother of former President George W...
and Jennifer Capriati
Jennifer Capriati
Jennifer Marie Capriati is a former world number one ranked professional tennis player, and the winner of three women's singles championships in Grand Slam tournaments. Capriati made her professional debut in 1990 at the age of 14 when she reached the finals of the hard court tournament in Boca...
, Sharapova participated in an exhibition in Tampa in December 2004, raising money for the Florida Hurricane Relief Fund.
In 2005, she donated around US$50,000 to those affected by the crisis. On February 14, 2007, Sharapova was appointed a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and donated US$210,000 to UNDP Chernobyl-recovery projects
Chernobyl Recovery and Development Programme (CRDP)
The Chernobyl Recovery and Development Programme is developed by the United Nations Development Programme and aims at ensuring return to normal life as a realistic prospect for people living in regions affected by Chernobyl disaster...
. She stated at the time that she was planning to travel back to the area after Wimbledon in 2008, though it didn't happen as she had to travel back to the US because of shoulder injury. She fulfilled the trip in late June – early July 2010.
In July 2008, Sharapova sent a message on DVD to the memorial service of Emily Bailes, who had performed the coin toss ahead of the 2004 Wimbledon final
2004 Wimbledon Championships
List of the 2004 Wimbledon Champions:-Men's Singles: Roger Federer def. Andy Roddick, 4–6, 7–5, 7–6, 6–4*It was Federer's sixth title of the year, and his 17th overall. It was his third career Grand Slam title, and his 2nd at Wimbledon....
that Sharapova had gone on to win.
Sharapova helped to promote the 2014 Winter Olympics
2014 Winter Olympics
The 2014 Winter Olympics, officially the XXII Olympic Winter Games, or the 22nd Winter Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event scheduled to be celebrated from 7 to 23 February 2014, in Sochi, Russia with some events held in the resort town of Krasnaya Polyana. Both the Olympic and...
in Sochi
Sochi
Sochi is a city in Krasnodar Krai, Russia, situated just north of Russia's border with the de facto independent republic of Abkhazia, on the Black Sea coast. Greater Sochi sprawls for along the shores of the Black Sea near the Caucasus Mountains...
, Russia.
In 2011, Sharapova was named in Forbes Celebrity 100. This lists her as one of the top 100 most powerful celebrities of the year.
Sharapova has often implied that she desires an early retirement. Following the retirement of 25-year-old Justine Henin, Sharapova said, "If I was 25 and I'd won so many Grand Slams, I'd quit too." In an interview after the 2008 Australian Open
2008 Australian Open
The 2008 Australian Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 96th edition of the Australian Open, and the first Grand Slam event of the year. It took place at the Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia, from 14 through 27 January 2008.After twenty years of playing on...
, she balked at the idea of playing for another ten years, saying that she hoped to have a "nice husband and a few kids" by then.
Endorsements
Sharapova's tennis success and appearance have enabled her to secure commercial endorsements that greatly exceed the value of her tournament winnings. In April 2005, PeoplePeople (magazine)
In 1998, the magazine introduced a version targeted at teens called Teen People. However, on July 27, 2006, the company announced it would shut down publication of Teen People immediately. The last issue to be released was scheduled for September 2006. Subscribers to this magazine received...
named her one of the 50 most beautiful celebrities in the world. In 2006, Maxim
Maxim (magazine)
Maxim is an international men's magazine based in the United Kingdom and known for its pictorials featuring popular actresses, singers, and female models, sometimes pictured dressed, often pictured scantily dressed but not fully nude....
ranked Sharapova the hottest athlete in the world for the fourth consecutive year. She posed in a six-page bikini photoshoot spread in the 2006 Valentine's Day
Valentine's Day
Saint Valentine's Day, commonly shortened to Valentine's Day, is an annual commemoration held on February 14 celebrating love and affection between intimate companions. The day is named after one or more early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine, and was established by Pope Gelasius I in 496...
issue of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue
Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue
The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue is published annually by Sports Illustrated. It features fashion models wearing swimwear in exotic locales. According to some, the magazine is the arbiter of supermodel succession. In addition, the issue is a media nexus that in 2005 carried in advertising....
, alongside 25 supermodels.
In a poll run by Britain's FHM
FHM
FHM, originally published as For Him Magazine, is an international monthly men's lifestyle magazine.- History :The magazine began publication in 1985 in the United Kingdom under the name For Him and changed its title to FHM in 1994 when Emap Consumer Media bought the magazine, although the full For...
magazine, she was voted the seventh most eligible bachelorette, based on both "wealth and looks."
Sharapova used the Prince Triple Threat Hornet for part of 2003 and then used several different Prince racquets until the US Open. She gave the racquet she used in the 2004 Wimbledon final to Regis Philbin
Regis Philbin
Regis Francis Xavier Philbin is an American media personality, actor and singer, known for hosting talk and game shows since the 1960s. Philbin is often called "the hardest working man in show business" and holds the Guinness World Record for the most time spent in front of a television camera...
when taping Live with Regis and Kelly
Live with Regis and Kelly
Live! with Kelly is a syndicated American television morning talk show, hosted by Kelly Ripa. The show has aired since 1983 in New York City and 1988 nationwide. Tony Pigg has been the show's announcer since its inception...
. Sharapova began using the Prince Shark OS at that tournament and had a major part in the production of the Shark racquet. She then switched to the Prince O3 White racquet in January 2006. Because of Sharapova's various shoulder injuries, she switched to the Prince O3 Speedport Black in July 2008.
In January 2011, it was announced that Sharapova would endorse Head racquets and use the Head YOUTEK Radical Midplus.
Sharapova signed a sponsorship deal in January 2007 with Gatorade and Tropicana.
In June 2007, Forbes magazine listed her as the highest-paid female athlete in the world, with annual earnings of over US $26 million, the majority of which was from endorsements and sponsorships. In a later interview, she said, "You know, one of the greatest things about being an athlete and, you know, making money is realizing that you can help, you know, help the world, and especially children, who I absolutely love working with."
In 2007, Sharapova was featured in a number of Canon USA's commercials for the PowerShot.
Sharapova has also been depicted in many tennis-related video games, along with such players as Daniela Hantuchová, Lindsay Davenport, Venus Williams and Anna Kournikova. Some of the titles include the Top Spin series, Virtua Tennis
Virtua Tennis
Virtua Tennis is a 1999 tennis arcade game created by Sega-AM3. The player competes through tennis tournaments and various arcade modes. For the home console market the game was expanded with the introduction of the campaign mode. It was later ported to Dreamcast in 2000, and for Microsoft Windows...
series, and Grand Slam Tennis series.
Upon hearing that Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated is an American sports media company owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. Its self titled magazine has over 3.5 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men. It was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the...
had named her in 2006 as the world's best-paid female athlete, Sharapova said, apparently only a little tongue-in-cheek, "It's never enough. Bring on the money. There's no limit to how much you can make."
In January 2010, it was announced that Sharapova had renewed her contract with Nike, signing an 8 year deal for $70 million. This is the most lucrative deal ever for a sportswoman, dwarfing the previous record, which was Venus Williams' $43 million deal with Reebok.
Wealth
In July 2008, as a result of her success both on and off court, she was the world's highest-paid female athlete, earning US $26 million.In August 2010, Maria Sharapova was once again named the world's highest-paid female athlete by Forbes
Forbes
Forbes is an American publishing and media company. Its flagship publication, the Forbes magazine, is published biweekly. Its primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Fortune, which is also published biweekly, and Business Week...
, earning $24.5 million.
In January 2010, she signed an eight-year Nike contract, worth $70 million.
Singles: 5 finals (3 titles, 2 runner-ups)
| Outcome | Year | Championship | Surface | Opponent in the final | Score in the final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winner (1/1) | 2004 |  WimbledonThe Championships, Wimbledon The Championships, Wimbledon, or simply Wimbledon , is the oldest tennis tournament in the world, considered by many to be the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London since 1877. It is one of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments, the other three Majors... |
Grass Grass court A grass court is one of the four different types of tennis court. Grass courts are made of rye grass in different compositions depending on the tournament... |
 Serena WilliamsSerena Williams Serena Jameka Williams is an American professional tennis player and a former world no. 1. The Women's Tennis Association has ranked her world no. 1 in singles on five separate occasions. She became the world no. 1 for the first time on July 8, 2002 and regained this ranking for the fifth time on... |
6–1, 6–4 |
| Winner (2/2) | 2006 | US Open |
Hard |  Justine Henin |
6–4, 6–4 |
| Runner-up (2/3) | 2007 |  Australian Open |
Hard | Serena Williams |
6–1, 6–2 |
| Winner (3/4) | 2008 | Australian Open |
Hard |  Ana IvanovićAna Ivanovic Ana Ivanović is a former world no. 1 Serbian tennis player. As of November 7, 2011, she is ranked 22th on the WTA rankings. She beat Dinara Safina to win the 2008 French Open and was the runner-up in singles at the 2007 French Open and the 2008 Australian Open... |
7–5, 6–3 |
| Runner-up (3/5) | 2011 2011 Wimbledon Championships – Women's Singles Serena Williams was the two-time defending champion, but lost to 2007 finalist Marion Bartoli in the fourth round.For the first time since 1913, all eight quarter-finalists were European.... |
Wimbledon |
Grass |  Petra KvitováPetra Kvitová Petra Kvitová is a Czech professional tennis player. She has won seven WTA singles titles. As of 31 October 2011, she is ranked World No. 2. Kvitová won the 2011 Wimbledon Championships and the 2011 WTA Tour Championships singles titles... |
6–3, 6–4 |
Awards
2003- Women's Tennis Association (WTA) Newcomer of the Year
2004
- WTA Player of the Year
- WTA Most Improved Player of the Year
2005
- ESPYESPY AwardsAn ESPY Award is an accolade presented by the American cable television network ESPN to recognize individual and team athletic achievement and other sports-related performance during the calendar year preceding a given annual ceremony. The first ESPYs were awarded in 1993...
Best Female Tennis Player - Named the country's best female player for the year by Russia's tennis federation
- Master of Sports of Russia
- Prix de Citron Roland Garros
2006
- Named the country's best female player for the year by Russia's tennis federation
- Whirlpool 6th Sense Player of the Year
2007
- ESPY Best Female Tennis Player
- ESPY Best International Female Athlete
- ESPN Hottest Female Athlete
2008
- Named the January 2008 female Athlete of the Month by the United States Sports AcademyUnited States Sports AcademyThe United States Sports Academy is an accredited, sport-specific institution located in Daphne, Alabama. It offers bachelor's, master's and doctoral degree programs as well as certificate programs. Founded in 1972, the Academy has provided its sports programs to more than 60 countries around the...
for her performance at the Australian Open - ESPY Best Female Tennis Player
2010
- WTA Fan Favorite Singles Player
- WTA Humanitarian Of The Year
- WTA Most Fashionable Player (On Court)
- WTA Most Fashionable Player (Off Court)
- WTA Most Dramatic Expression (2010)