Maria Sharapova

Maria Sharapova

Country (sports)	Russia
Residence	Bradenton, Florida, U.S.
Height	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Turned pro	April 19, 2001
Plays	Right-handed; two-handed backhand
Prize money	US$12,122,252
Singles
Career record	304-70
Career titles	19
Highest ranking	1 (August 22, 2005)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	W (2008)
French Open	SF (2007)
Wimbledon	W (2004)
US Open	W (2006)
Other tournaments
Tour Finals	W (2004)
Doubles
Career record	23-16
Career titles	3
Highest ranking	41 (June 14, 2004)
Last updated on: June 9, 2008.

Maria Yuryevna Sharapova (Russian: , Mariâ Ûr′evna Šarapova; born April 19, 1987) is a former World No. 1 Russian professional tennis player. As of July 7, 2008, she is ranked World No. 3.

Sharapova has won three Grand Slam singles titles. In 2004, at the age of 17, she defeated Serena Williams in the Wimbledon final. She has since won the 2006 US Open, defeating Justine Henin in the final, and the 2008 Australian Open, defeating Ana Ivanovic in the final. Sharapova has been ranked in the top ten since winning Wimbledon in 2004, the longest run of any current female tennis player. During the 12 months ending June 2007, she was the world's highest-paid female athlete.

She is currently coached by her father, Yuri Sharapov, and former player Michael Joyce.

Playing style

Sharapova has been labeled a power baseliner by tennis observers, with excellent power, depth, and angles on her groundstrokes, which are particularly effective on hard and grass courts. Her double-handed backhand is generally regarded as her more penetrating and more reliable wing. While she is also known to generate many winners from her forehand, it is occasionally known to break down when she is not serving well and produce errors. She is not a traditional volleyer, instead preferring to use a powerful "swinging" volley for net approaches. This also occurs when it comes to attacking a lob as she she usually uses a powerful volley instead of an overhead smash. and critics also claim that, for her height, Sharapova has good on-court speed. At the 2008 Australian Open, observers noted that Sharapova appeared to have developed her game, showing improved movement and footwork and having added the drop shot and the sliced backhand to her repertoire of shots.

Sharapova's game is not as well-suited to clay courts as it is to other surfaces. Her flat shots are less effective as her opponent often has sufficient time to reach her shots. In addition, Sharapova lacks confidence in her ability to move on clay, largely because she appears uncomfortable sliding, and she herself once described herself as like a "cow on ice" on clay. Her limitations on the surface are reflected in her career results, as she did not win a WTA tour title on clay until April 2008 (despite having won 18 titles on other surfaces) and because the French Open is the only Grand Slam singles title she has not yet won.

Sharapova's first and second serve is generally considered powerful. This means the serve often produces an ace or a service winner or results in a weak reply from her opponent, which allows Sharapova to take control of the rally immediately. However, a serious shoulder injury during early 2007 reduced the effectiveness of Sharapova's serve for several months, as she routinely produced eight to ten double faults in many of her matches during this period. She later changed her service motion to a more compacted backswing (as opposed to her traditional elongated backswing) in an attempt to put less stress on her shoulder, but she nevertheless periodically experienced problems with her serve throughout the rest of the year, most notably producing 12 double faults in her third-round loss at the 2007 U.S. Open. Her serve appeared to be more effective at the 2008 Australian Open, as she produced just 17 double faults throughout her full title run at the tournament. However, her serving problems resurfaced during the spring of 2008, as she produced 43 double faults in just four matches at the 2008 French Open and eight double faults in her second round loss at the 2008 Wimbledon Championships. Observers, including Tracy Austin, believe that when Sharapova experiences problems with her serve, she often loses confidence in the rest of her game, and as a result, produces many unforced errors and plays generally more tentatively.

Sharapova is one of several current top players, including Venus and Serena Williams, who are renowned for loud on-court "grunting."

Career

Early life and career

Sharapova was born in 1987 to Yuri and Yelena, ethnic Russians in the town of Nyagan in Siberia, Russia. Previously her parents had lived in Gomel, Belarus, but were compelled to move after the Chernobyl nuclear accident in 1986.

When Maria was two, the family moved to Sochi. There, Yuri befriended the father of the eventual men's Grand Slam champion, Yevgeny Kafelnikov. Yevgeny's father is responsible for giving Maria her first tennis racket, at the age of four, and subsequently Maria and her father began regular practices in the local park. At the age of six, Maria attended a tennis clinic in Moscow run by Martina Navratilova. Navratilova noted Maria was talented but required professional training, recommending the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Florida. Yuri and Maria, neither of whom could speak English, move to Florida in 1994. Because of visa restrictions, Yelena could not originally move with them, though she eventually joined them two years later. Yuri took a variety of jobs in order to fund Maria's lessons. Maria, until the age of 12, was transported to the Academy each day on the handlebars of Yuri's bicycle as they could not afford any other method of transport. In an interview she also described sleeping "in little cots for three years, eating oatmeal out of a packet while playing in the middle of nowhere for nothing." Maria developed rapidly at the Academy and began playing junior tournaments.

Sharapova turned professional in 2001, although she played a total of just two WTA tournaments in 2001 and 2002 plus six challenger events. She became the youngest girl to reach the final at the junior Australian Open in 2002, and repeated this feat at Wimbledon later in the same year. She also won three titles on the ITF Circuit and played her first matches on the main WTA Tour, including winning a match at the Tier I Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, California.

2003

Sharapova started playing tour events full-time in 2003. She won three qualifying matches at both the Australian Open and the French Open in order to reach the main draw, although she subsequently lost in the first round in both events. Later in the year, she was awarded a wildcard into the main draw at Wimbledon. She lost in the fourth round to compatriot Svetlana Kuznetsova, having defeated the 21st seed and the 11th seed in the first and third rounds respectively. In October, Sharapova won her first title at the Tier III tournament in Tokyo, and then won her second Tier III tournament four weeks later in Quebec City. She finished the year at World No. 32 and was named the WTA Newcomer of the Year.

2004

Sharapova winning her first grand slam in 2004 Wimbledon

Sharapova started the year by reaching the third round of the Australian Open, where she lost to seventh-seeded Anastasia Myskina 6–4, 1–6, 6–2. In each of her next six tournaments, Sharapova lost before the quarterfinals, except in Memphis, where she reached the semifinals. Her results meant that she rose into the Top 20 on the rankings.

Sharapova reached the quarterfinals of her first career Grand Slam singles tournament at the French Open, losing to Paola Suárez 6–1, 6–3. She then won the third title of her career in Birmingham on grass, defeating Tatiana Golovin to win the title.

The 17-year-old Sharapova went into Wimbledon as the thirteenth seed. She reached her second consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinal, where she defeated Ai Sugiyama 5–7, 7–5, 6–1. She then succeeded in completing an upset against the fifth-seed and former World No. 1 Lindsay Davenport in the semifinals 2–6, 7–6, 6–1. Her opponent in the final was two-time defending champion Serena Williams, with Williams an overwhelming favorite because of her experience and higher seeding. However, Sharapova caused a major upset by defeating Williams 6–1, 6–4, to become the third-youngest Wimbledon women's champion (after Lottie Dod and Martina Hingis), the first Russian to win the tournament and the lowest seed to win the women's event at the time. The win also meant that Sharapova earned a top ten ranking for the first time.

Sharapova failed to reach the semifinals of her three warm-up events for the US Open. She would eventually lose in the third round to two-time Grand Slam champion Mary Pierce 4–6, 6–2, 6–3. Sharapova would rebound in the autumn to win her third and fourth titles of the year in two consecutive weeks; first in Seoul, South Korea, and then in Tokyo. She reached her first Tier I final in Zurich, where she lost to Alicia Molik. Sharapova ended the year by winning the WTA Tour Championships, defeating an injured Serena Williams 4–6, 6–2, 6–4 in the final, after being down 4–0 in the final set.

Sharapova finished 2004 ranked World No. 4 and was the second-ranked Russian (behind Myskina). She won five titles during the year, trailing only Davenport's seven and equaling Justine Henin's total, and she topped the prize winnings list for the year.

2005

Sharapova at Indian Wells in 2005.

Sharapova started the year by reaching the semifinals of the Australian Open, where she held match points but was ultimately defeated by eventual champion Serena Williams 2–6, 7–5, 8–6.

In February, Sharapova won her first Tier I event in Tokyo, and went on to win in Doha three weeks later. On the rankings, she began to catch up with top-ranked Lindsay Davenport. However, in the semifinals of Indian Wells, she lost to Davenport 6–0, 6–0, the heaviest loss ever for a Top 3 player. She then reached the final in Miami, losing to Kim Clijsters.

The best result of Sharapova's clay season was a run to the semifinals in Rome, losing to Patty Schnyder. At the French Open, Sharapova lost in the quarterfinals for the second consecutive year, falling to Justine Henin-Hardenne, the eventual champion.

On grass, Sharapova successfully defended her Birmingham title, defeating Jelena Jankovic in the final to extend her winning streak on grass to 19 matches. Attempting to defend her Wimbledon title, she reached the semifinals without losing a set, but then lost to Venus Williams, the eventual champion, 7–6, 6–1.

Davenport, who remained the World No. 1, injured her back in the Wimbledon final, preventing her from defending the ranking points she obtained during the U.S. hard-court season of 2004. Although Sharapova also played very few tournaments in this time due to injury, she had fewer points to defend than Davenport, and therefore rose to the World No. 1 ranking on August 22, 2005, becoming the first Russian woman to hold the position. Her reign lasted only one week, however, as Davenport re-ascended to the top ranking after winning the title in New Haven.

At the US Open, Sharapova was the top seed but lost in the semifinals to eventual champion Clijsters, meaning she had lost to the eventual champion in all four Grand Slam events of 2005. Nevertheless, the points she accumulated at the US Open meant that she once again leapfrogged Davenport to take the World No. 1 ranking on September 12, 2005, retaining it for six weeks before relinquishing it again to Davenport following the Zurich Open. To conclude the year, Sharapova failed to defend her title at the season-ending WTA Tour Championships, losing in the semifinals to eventual champion Amelie Mauresmo.

Sharapova finished the year ranked fourth again but as the top-ranked Russian for the first time. She won three titles during the year and was the only player in 2005 to reach three Grand Slam semifinals.

2006

At the Australian Open, Sharapova lost in the semifinals to Justine Henin-Hardenne 4–6, 6–1, 6–4, the only match of the year that Sharapova lost after winning the first set. She claimed her first title of 2006 and eleventh of her career at the Tier I tournament in Indian Wells, defeating Elena Dementieva in the final, and then reached the final in Miami, though was defeated by Svetlana Kuznetsova.

Sharapova participated at the French Open without having played any of the clay court tune-ups because of injury. After saving three match points in the first round against Mashona Washington, Sharapova was eliminated in the fourth round by Dinara Safina 7–5, 2–6, 7–5, after Sharapova led 5–1 in the third set before losing 18 of the match's last 21 points.

An attempt to add a third successive Birmingham title to her collection failed for Sharapova as she lost in the semifinals to American Jamea Jackson. At Wimbledon, Sharapova was defeated in the semifinals for the second consecutive year, losing to eventual champion and World No. 1 Amelie Mauresmo, her fifth consecutive defeat in a Grand Slam semifinal.

Sharapova claimed her second title of 2006 at the Tier I event in San Diego, defeating top-seeded Kim Clijsters for the first time in the final. As the third seed at the US Open, Sharapova reached the quarterfinals without losing a set, before defeating Tatiana Golovin 7–6, 7–6 in the quarterfinals. She then defeated Mauresmo in a semifinal 6–0, 4–6, 6–0, and in her second Grand Slam final, she prevailed over second-ranked Henin-Hardenne 6–4, 6–4 to win her second Grand Slam singles title, having dropped just one set en route.

In the autumn, Sharapova won the tournaments in Zurich (defeating Daniela Hantuchová in the final) and Linz (defeating Nadia Petrova in the final) in consecutive weeks. At the WTA Tour Championships, she won all three of her round-robin matches in straight sets to extend her winning streak to 19 matches, but then lost to eventual champion Henin-Hardenne.

Sharapova finished the year at number two and, for the second year, as the top Russian player. During the year, she won five titles (second only to Henin-Hardenne's six), including three Tier I titles, more than any other player.

2007

Maria Sharapova at the 2007 Australian Open

As the top seed at the Australian Open (due to top-ranked Justine Henin's withdrawal), Sharapova came within two points from defeat in the first round against 62nd-ranked Camille Pin, but ultimately won 6–3, 4–6, 9–7. In the semifinals, Sharapova defeated fourth-seeded Kim Clijsters to reach her first Australian Open final and gain the opportunity to win the only Grand Slam singles title that a Russian woman had not yet won. However, Serena Williams, ranked 81st, overpowered Sharapova 6–1, 6–2 in the final. Reaching the final allowed Sharapova to recapture the World No. 1 ranking, which she held for seven weeks until a fourth-round loss at Indian Wells. In Miami, Sharapova was defeated again by Williams (6–1, 6–1).

A shoulder injury forced Sharapova to miss most of the clay court season for the second consecutive year, and played just one low-level tournament on clay in the lead-up to the French Open. However, she reached the semifinals there for the first time in her career (saving a match point against Patty Schnyder in the fourth round), but then fell to Ana Ivanovic 6–2, 6–1.

On grass in Birmingham, Sharapova reached only her second final of the year, but lost to second-seeded Jelena Jankovic. At Wimbledon, Sharapova lost to eventual champion Venus Williams in the fourth round 6–1, 6–3.

Sharapova won her first title of the year in San Diego, defeating Schnyder in the final. This was the main reason for her clinching the US Open Series for the first time. Seeded second at the US Open, Sharapova won her first two matches with the loss of only two games but then lost her third round match to 18-year-old Pole Agnieszka Radwańska in three sets, having committed 12 double faults and 49 unforced errors. It was Sharapova's earliest exit at a Grand Slam singles tournament since she lost in the same round at the tournament in 2004.

Sharapova did not play again for six weeks after after the US Open. On her return in Moscow, she lost her opening match to Victoria Azarenka, before withdrawing from events in Zurich and Linz. These losses and withdrawals meant that she fell out of the top five on the rankings for the first time in three years, and she was awarded qualification to the WTA Tour Championships only because Venus Williams withdrew from the tournament. She won all her round-robin matches, including a 6–1, 6–2 win over Ivanovic, before defeating Anna Chakvetadze in the semifinals. In the final, Sharapova lost to World No. 1 Henin 5–7, 7–5, 6–3 in a match that lasted 3 hours and 24 minutes, the 12th longest tour match during the open era.

Sharapova ended the year ranked World No. 5, the fourth consecutive year that she finished in the top five. However, for the first time since 2004, she did not finish the year as the top ranked Russian (the honor instead being held by Svetlana Kuznetsova). Sharapova also won just one title (at San Diego), the first time she had failed to win at least two titles since 2002 (when she played just three WTA matches).

2008

Sharapova playing for Russian Fed Cup team against Israel in 2008

Sharapova was the fifth seed at the Australian Open, her lowest seeding at a Grand Slam singles tournament since the 2004 US Open. She defeated former World No. 1 Lindsay Davenport in the second round and World No. 1 Justine Henin in the quarterfinals 6–4, 6–0, ending her 32-match winning streak. Sharapova then reached her second consecutive Australian Open final when she defeated an injured Jelena Jankovic in the semifinals. She defeated Ana Ivanovic in the final, dropping only 10 service points during the match and winning this tournament without dropping a set.

After the Australian Open, Sharapova extended her winning streak to 18 matches before finally losing. She participated for the first time in Fed Cup. She then won the Tier I Qatar Total Open in Doha, defeating Vera Zvonareva in a three-set final. In the semifinals of the Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, California, Sharapova lost to Svetlana Kuznetsova, which was her first loss of the year. Sharapova then withdrew from the Tier I Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida, citing a shoulder injury.

At the Tier II Bausch & Lomb Championships in Amelia Island, Florida, Sharapova was the top seeded player. In consecutive days, she defeated Anabel Medina Garrigues in the third round in 3 hours and 27 minutes, her longest ever match, and Alona Bondarenko in the quarterfinals in 2 hours and 43 minutes. Sharapova then received a walkover to the final after Davenport withdrew from the tournament. In her first career clay court final, Sharapova defeated Dominika Cibulkova in straight sets. Immediately after this win, Sharapova's ranking rose to World No. 4.

At the Tier I Family Circle Cup in Charleston, South Carolina the next week, Sharapova lost to Serena Williams in the quarterfinals 7–5, 4–6, 6–1 after Sharapova had a set point at 5-3 in the first set and served for the set at 5–4. Sharapova claimed the second set but then lost the first five games of the final set. This was Sharapova's fourth consecutive loss to Williams. Even though she did not advance past the quarterfinals, Sharapova's ranking rose to World No. 3.

Sharapova was the second-seeded player at the Tier I Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome. She defeated Patty Schnyder in the quarterfinals but then did not play her semifinal against Jankovic because of a calf injury. Sharapova nevertheless regained the World No. 1 ranking because of Henin's sudden retirement from professional tennis and request to the Women's Tennis Association that her own ranking be removed immediately.

Sharapova was consequently the top-seeded player at the French Open. In the first round, she defeated compatriot Evgeniya Rodina 6–1, 3–6, 8–6 after being two points from becoming the first female top seeded player in the open era to lose in the first round of this tournament. Sharapova ultimately lost to 13th-seeded and eventual runner-up Dinara Safina in a 2 hour, 52 minute fourth round match 6–7(6), 7–6(5), 6–2. Sharapova saved two set points in the first set tiebreaker before winning the last four points to take the set and then had a match point at 5–3 in the second set. Sharapova broke Safina in the opening game of the third set, but Safina won the last four games of the match. Sharapova lost the match despite hitting 65 winners and only 39 unforced errors. She lost the World No. 1 ranking as a result of this loss.

Sharapova withdrew from the grass court DFS Classic in Birmingham, United Kingdom because of a shoulder injury sustained during the French Open. At Wimbledon, Sharapova was seeded third but lost in the second round to compatriot and World No. 159 Alla Kudryavtseva 6–2, 6–4.

Sharapova now intends to play the Tier I Rogers Cup in Montreal, the Olympics in Beijing, and the US Open.

Fed Cup participation

Sharapova's representation of Russia in the Fed Cup has been controversial. At the end of 2004, compatriot Anastasia Myskina stated she would stop playing for Russia if Sharapova joined. 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 practise partner but if you can't play how then can you practise?"

Sharapova finally made her Fed Cup debut in February 2008, in Russia's quarterfinal tie against Israel. Sharapova won both her singles rubbers, against Tzipora Obziler and Shahar Peer, helping Russia to a 4-1 victory.

Record against other top players

As of May 19, 2008, Sharapova's win-loss record against certain players who have been ranked World No. 5 or higher is as follows:

• Elena Dementieva 8-2
• Daniela Hantuchová 7-1
• Anna Chakvetadze 6-0
• Lindsay Davenport 5-1
• Nadia Petrova 5-1
• Jelena Jankovic 4-1
• Svetlana Kuznetsova 4-4
• Mary Pierce 3-1
• Ana Ivanovic 3-2
• Venus Williams 3-2
• Kim Clijsters 3-4
• Justine Henin 3-6
• Martina Hingis 2-1
• Anastasia Myskina 2-3
• Serena Williams 2-5
• Jelena Dokic 1-0
• Amelie Mauresmo 1-3
• Jennifer Capriati 0-1
• Monica Seles 0-1

Personal life

Sharapova has lived in the United States since moving there at the age of seven but retains her Russian citizenship. She has a home in Manhattan Beach, California and in early 2008, purchased a penthouse apartment in Netanya, Israel.

On February 14 2007, Sharapova was appointed a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and donated US$100,000 to UNDP Chernobyl-recovery projects. She is planning on traveling back to the area after Wimbledon in 2008.

On-court tennis outfits

Sharapova is well known for designing her unique tennis outfits, especially for Grand Slam tournaments. Among her most memorable were her nighttime 2006 US Open dress, inspired by Audrey Hepburn's look from Breakfast at Tiffany's, her swan inspired white dress during the 2007 Wimbledon Championships and her 2007 US Open night dress, which was red and sequined with over 600 Swarovski crystals.

For the 2008 Wimbledon Championships, she wore a pair of shorts with a translucent vest top with a tuxedo style front. The attire also came with a blazer. She said that the outfit was inspired by menswear and was intended to be classy and suitable for Wimbledon.

Awards

See: WTA 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

• ESPY 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 Academy for her performance at the Australian Open

Endorsements

Arguably, the combination of her tennis success and physical beauty have enabled her to secure commercial endorsements that greatly exceed in value her tournament winnings. In April 2005, People Magazine named her one of the 50 most beautiful celebrities in the world. In 2006, Maxim magazine 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 scantily-clad supermodels. In a poll run by Britain's FHM magazine, she was voted the seventh most eligible bachelorette, based on both "wealth and looks."

In 2001, Sharapova signed a multi-million dollar deal with Nike.

Sharapova used the Prince Tour Diablo 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.

In June 2005, Forbes magazine listed her as the highest-paid female athlete in the world, with annual earnings of over US$18 million. (CBS, the American television network, reported in August 2006 that the figure is over US$20 million.) The majority is made 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 2005 during a photo shoot for Canon, a lewd photo was taken of Sharapova without her knowledge by Japanese advertising agency Dentsu. The company currently has a lawsuit related to this incident.

Video games

Sharapova has 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 are Top Spin (Play Station 2 version), Top Spin 2, Smash Court Tennis 3 and Virtua Tennis 3. She has also just appeared in the roster of the newest edition of the tennis-related video games, Top Spin 3, which was released on June 20, 2008.

Quotations

• When asked at the press conference after the 2006 US Open final about her father's illegal signaling and feeding her during the match: I believe, at the end of the day, personally, my life is not about a banana.
• When questioned about her on-court grunting at the 2006 Australian Open: I know this is your job. But take your notepads, take your pencils down, take your grunt-o-meters down, the fashion police, put it all away and just watch the match.
• Reporter (after Sharapova won her second round at the 2007 French Open): So, how do you feel when you get back on court after not hitting balls, do you actually feel stronger and faster as a result?

Sharapova: No, I feel terrible. I feel like a cow on ice. Especially on clay.

• I’ve been playing against older and stronger competition my whole life. It has made me a better tennis player and able to play against this kind of level despite their strength and experience.
• When I was working my way to the top of tennis, I didn't say I was number two, I said I wanted to be number one.
• A great tennis career is something that a 15-year-old normally doesn’t have. I hope my example helps other teens believe they can accomplish things they never thought possible.
• 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.
• Writing in her blog, following a third-round exit at the 2007 U.S. Open: I know it's as tough for my fans to handle my losses as it is for me. But let me point something out. I didn't leave my mom at the age of seven for nothing. I didn't spend six hours a day practising in the Florida sun at the age of nine for nothing.... I didn't sleep in little cots for three years, eating oatmeal out of a packet while playing in the middle of nowhere for nothing. All this has helped me build character and there's no better asset than being able to stand up for yourself.

Grand Slam singles finals

Wins (3)

Year	Championship	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
2004	Wimbledon	Serena Williams	6–1, 6–4
2006	US Open	Justine Henin	6–4, 6–4
2008	Australian Open	Ana Ivanovic	7–5, 6–3

Runner-up (1)

Year	Championship	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
2007	Australian Open	Serena Williams	6–1, 6–2

WTA Tour Championships singles finals

Win (1)

Year	Venue	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
2004	Los Angeles	Serena Williams	4–6, 6–2, 6–4

Runner-up (1)

Year	Venue	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
2007	Madrid	Justine Henin	5–7, 7–5, 6–3

WTA Tour titles (22)

Singles (19)

Legend Grand Slam (3) WTA Championships (1) Tier I (6) Tier II (3) Tier III (5) Tier IV (1)

Titles by Surface Hard (14) Grass (3) Clay (1) Carpet (1)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score
1.	September 29, 2003	Japan Open Tennis Championships, Tokyo	Hard	Aniko Kapros	2–6, 6–2, 7–6(5)
2.	October 27, 2003	Bell Challenge, Quebec City, Canada	Hard (i)	Milagros Sequera	6–2 retired
3.	June 7, 2004	DFS Classic, Birmingham, United Kingdom	Grass	Tatiana Golovin	4–6, 6–2, 6–1
4.	June 21, 2004	Wimbledon, London	Grass	Serena Williams	6–1, 6–4
5.	September 27, 2004	Hansol Korea Open Tennis Championships, Seoul	Hard	Marta Domachowska	6–1, 6–1
6.	October 4, 2004	Japan Open Tennis Championships, Tokyo	Hard	Mashona Washington	6–0, 6–1
7.	November 8, 2004	WTA Championships, Los Angeles	Hard (i)	Serena Williams	4–6, 6–2, 6–4
8.	February 6, 2005	Toray Pan Pacific Open, Tokyo	Carpet (i)	Lindsay Davenport	6–1, 3–6, 7–6(5)
9.	February 21, 2005	Qatar Total Open, Doha	Hard	Alicia Molik	4–6, 6–1, 6–4
10.	June 6, 2005	DFS Classic, Birmingham, United Kingdom	Grass	Jelena Jankovic	6–2, 4–6, 6–1
11.	March 18, 2006	Pacific Life Open, Indian Wells, California, U.S.	Hard	Elena Dementieva	6–1, 6–2
12.	August 6, 2006	Acura Classic, San Diego, California, U.S.	Hard	Kim Clijsters	7–5, 7–5
13.	September 9, 2006	US Open, New York City	Hard	Justine Henin	6–4, 6–4
14.	October 22, 2006	Zürich Open, Zürich, Switzerland	Hard (i)	Daniela Hantuchová	6–1, 4–6, 6–3
15.	October 29, 2006	Generali Ladies Linz, Linz, Austria	Hard (i)	Nadia Petrova	7–5, 6–2
16.	August 5, 2007	Acura Classic, San Diego, California, U.S.	Hard	Patty Schnyder	6–2, 3–6, 6–0
17.	January 26, 2008	Australian Open, Melbourne	Hard	Ana Ivanovic	7–5, 6–3
18.	February 24, 2008	Qatar Total Open, Doha	Hard	Vera Zvonareva	6–1, 2–6, 6–0
19.	April 13, 2008	Bausch & Lomb Championships, Amelia Island, Florida, U.S.	Clay	Dominika Cibulková	7–6(7), 6–3

Doubles (3)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partnering	Opponents in the final	Score
1.	September 29, 2003	Japan Open Tennis Championships, Tokyo	Hard	Tamarine Tanasugarn	Ansley Cargill Ashley Harkleroad	7–6(1), 6–0
2.	October 20, 2003	Fortis Championships, Luxembourg, Luxembourg	Hard	Tamarine Tanasugarn	Elena Tatarkova Marlene Weingartner	6–1, 6–4
3.	June 7, 2004	DFS Classic, Birmingham, United Kingdom	Grass	Maria Kirilenko	Lisa McShea Milagros Sequera	6–2, 6–1

WTA Tour runner-ups (8)

Singles (7)

Legend

Grand Slam (1)

WTA Championships (1)

Tier I (3)

Tier II (1)

Tier III (1)

Tier IV & V (0)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score
1.	October 24, 2004	Zürich Open, Zürich, Switzerland	Hard	Alicia Molik	4–6, 6–2, 6–3
2.	March 3, 2005	Sony Ericsson Open, Key Biscayne, Florida, U.S.	Hard	Kim Clijsters	6–3, 7–5
3.	February 26, 2006	Dubai Tennis Championships, United Arab Emirates	Hard	Justine Henin	7–5, 6–2
4.	March 2, 2006	Sony Ericsson Open, Key Biscayne, Florida, U.S.	Hard	Svetlana Kuznetsova	6–4, 6–3
5.	January 29, 2007	Australian Open, Melbourne	Hard	Serena Williams	6–1, 6–2
6.	June 18, 2007	DFS Classic, Birmingham, United Kingdom	Grass	Jelena Jankovic	4–6, 6–3, 7–5
7.	November 11, 2007	WTA Tour Championships, Madrid, Spain	Hard	Justine Henin	5–7, 7–5, 6–3

Doubles (1)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partnering	Opponents in the final	Score
1.	February 16, 2004	Cellular South Cup, Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.	Hard	Vera Zvonareva	Åsa Svensson Meilen Tu	6–4, 7–6(0)

ITF titles (4)

Singles (4)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score
1.	April 21, 2002	Gunma, Japan	Clay	Aiko Nakamura	6–4, 6–1
2.	August 4, 2002	Vancouver, Canada	Hard	Laura Granville	0–6, 6–3, 6–1
3.	September 15, 2002	Peachtree City, U.S.	Hard	Kelly McCain	6–0, 6–1
4.	May 11, 2003	Sea Island, U.S.	Clay	Christina Wheeler	6–4, 6–3

Singles performance timeline

Template:Performance timeline legend To prevent confusion and double counting, information in this table is updated only once a tournament when the player's participation in the tournament has concluded. This table is current through Wimbledon in London, which ended on July 6, 2008.

Tournament	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	Career SR	Career Win-Loss
Grand Slam Tournaments
Australian Open	A	A	1R	3R	SF	SF	F	W	1 / 6	28-5
French Open	A	A	1R	QF	QF	4R	SF	4R	0 / 6	22-6
Wimbledon	A	A	4R	W	SF	SF	4R	2R	1 / 6	24-5
US Open	A	A	2R	3R	SF	W	3R		1 / 5	17-4
Grand Slam SR	0 / 0	0 / 0	0 / 4	1 / 4	0 / 4	1 / 4	0 / 4	1 / 3	3 / 23	N/A
Grand Slam Win-Loss	0-0	0-0	10-4	15-3	19-4	20-3	16-4	11-2	N/A	91-20
Olympic Games
Summer Olympics	Not Held			A	Not Held				0 / 0	0–0
Current WTA Tier I Tournaments
Doha	Not Tier I							W	1 / 1	5-0
Indian Wells	A	2R	1R	4R	SF	W	4R	SF	1 / 7	19-6
Miami	A	A	1R	4R	F	F	4R	A	0 / 5	14-5
Charleston	A	A	1R	A	A	A	A	QF	0 / 2	4-2
Berlin	A	A	A	3R	QF	A	A	A	0 / 2	4-2
Rome	A	A	A	3R	SF	A	A	SF	0 / 3	8-2
Montréal/Toronto	A	A	1R	3R	A	A	A		0 / 2	1-2
Tokyo	A	A	A	2R	W	SF	SF		1 / 4	9-3
Moscow	A	A	A	A	QF	QF	2R		0 / 3	2-2
Year-End Championship
WTA Tour Championships	A	A	A	W	SF	SF	F		1 / 4	13-5
Former WTA Tier I Tournaments
Zurich	A	A	A	F	A	W	A	Not Tier I	1 / 2	7-1
San Diego	Not Tier I			QF	A	W	W	Not Held	2 / 3	12-1
Career Statistics
Tournaments played	1	8	16	20	15	15	13	8	N/A	96
Finals reached	0	5	3	6	4	7	4	3	N/A	32
Tournaments Won	0	3	3	5	3	5	1	3	N/A	23
Hardcourt Win-Loss	0-0	23-5	20-9	34-11	29-7	45-5	24-5	18-1	N/A	193-43
Clay Win-Loss	0-1	5-0	9-2	8-3	9-3	3-1	7-2	12-2	N/A	53-14
Grass Win-Loss	0-0	0-0	9-2	12-0	10-1	8-2	7-2	1-1	N/A	47-8
Carpet Win-Loss	0-0	0-0	0-0	1-1	5-1	3-1	2-2	0-0	N/A	11-5
Overall Win-Loss	0-1	28-5	38-13	55-15	53-12	59-9	40-11	31-4	N/A	304-70
Win %	0%	85%	75%	79%	82%	87%	78%	89%	N/A	81%
Year End Ranking	None	186	32	4	4	2	5		N/A	N/A

WTA Tour career earnings

Year	Majors	WTA wins	Total wins	Earnings ($)	Money list rank
2003	0	2	2	222,005	51
2004	1	4	5	2,506,263	1
2005	0	3	3	1,921,283	5
2006	1	4	5	3,799,501	2
2007	0	1	1	1,758,550	7
2008*	1	2	3	1,890,850	2
Career*	3	16	19	12,122,252	12

* As of June 23, 2008.

Notable matches

2004 Wimbledon final: defeated heavily-favored two-time defending champion Serena Williams 6–1, 6–4 to become the third youngest woman to win the title at the All England Club and the lowest seed (at the time) to do so.

2004 WTA Tour Championships final: defeated Serena Williams 4–6, 6–2, 6–4. Sharapova came back from a 4-0 deficit in the third set and won her first WTA Championships trophy.

2005 Australian Open semifinal: defeated by eventual champion Serena Williams 2–6, 7–5, 8–6. Sharapova led 6–2, 5–4 before Williams rallied to win the second set. In the third set, Sharapova again carved out a lead and even held three match points, but Williams battled back once again to win the match.

2005 Pacific Life Open (Indian Wells, California) semifinal: defeated by Lindsay Davenport 6–0, 6–0. This was the worst loss ever for a woman ranked in the world top three and the only professional match that Sharapova had not won a game.

2005 US Open semifinal: defeated by eventual champion Kim Clijsters 6–2, 6–7(4), 6–3. Sharapova was down 5–2 in the second set and one game away from defeat but fought back to claim the set. Sharapova wound up saving five match points; however, Clijsters won the match on her sixth match point.

2006 Sony Ericsson Open (Key Biscayne, Florida) semifinal: defeated Tatiana Golovin 6–3, 6–7(5), 4–3 retired. Sharapova had match points at 6–3, 5–1 but could not convert. The third set was close until Golovin was forced to retire after dramatically twisting her ankle. Some criticized Sharapova for turning her back on Golovin, but a television replay showed Sharapova turning her back before the fall. Sharapova later explained that she thought Golovin had simply cramped. When the Frenchwoman retired and was leaving the court, Sharapova gave her a round of applause along with the crowd to show her appreciation.

2006 US Open semifinal: defeated Amelie Mauresmo, the World No. 1, 6–0, 4–6, 6–0. This was the first time in the open era that a female had lost two 6–0 sets in a US Open semifinal. This was also the first progression to a Grand Slam final in over two years, the last being at the 2004 Wimbledon Championships.

2006 US Open final: defeated Justine Henin 6–4, 6–4 to win her second Grand Slam title. Sharapova beat Henin for only the second time in her career.

2007 French Open fourth round: defeated Patty Schnyder 3–6, 6–4, 9–7. Sharapova came into the tournament with an injury and overcame two match points against her during this match.

2007 WTA Tour Championships final: defeated by Henin 5–7, 7–5, 6–3. World No. 1 Henin was the pre-match favorite, but Sharapova took the first set on her eighth set point and at one stage in the second set, was a mere five points from victory. The match lasted 3 hours, 24 minutes, making it the twelfth longest women's tour match during the open era. This was one of the best women's matches of 2007.

2008 Australian Open quarterfinal: defeated Henin 6–4, 6–0. Henin was the World No. 1, but Sharapova won her third victory in nine meetings with Henin. The win snapped Henin's 32-match winning streak and marked the first time Henin had suffered a "bagel" set since 2002. It also marked the first time since 2005 that Henin had lost in a Grand Slam tournament before the semifinals.

2008 Australian Open final: defeated Ana Ivanovic to claim her third Grand Slam singles title. This was the only time that Sharapova had won a Grand Slam final when Sharapova was seeded higher than her final round opponent. This gave her a 3–1 win-loss record in Grand Slam finals.

2008 French Open fourth round: defeated by Dinara Safina 6–7(6), 7–6(5), 6–2. Sharapova lost two match points while leading 5–3 in the second set. She was only two points away from victory on numerous other occasions, one of which was Sharapova's lead at 5–2 in the second set tiebraker before losing five consecutive points and the set.

2008 Wimbledon second round: defeated by Alla Kudryavtseva 6–2, 6–4. This was her earliest loss at a Grand Slam singles tournament since the 2003 US Open and her earliest loss ever at Wimbledon. She won only 27% of the points that began on her second serve, committed 8 double faults, and had only 13 winners versus 22 unforced errors.

See also

• List of Grand Slam Women's Singles champions

External links

• Maria Sharapova's Official Site
• Maria Sharapova at the Women's Tennis Association
• Maria Sharapova at the Billie Jean King Cup
• Sharapova's record versus other players
• Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue: Maria Sharapova
• Maria Sharapova's Myspace page
• Information Tennis profile of Maria Sharapova

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