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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$11,376,478
Singles
Career record	282-66
Career titles	17
Highest ranking	No.1 (August 22, 2005)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	W (2008)
French Open	SF (2007)
Wimbledon	W (2004)
US Open	W (2006)
Doubles
Career record	23-16
Career titles	3
Highest ranking	41 (June 14, 2004)
Last updated on: January 26, 2008.

Maria Yuryevna Sharápova (Template:Lang-ru listen) (born April 19, 1987) is a Russian professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. As of February 14, 2008, she is the fifth-ranked female player in the world. At the end of 2006, she was the world's highest-paid female athlete.

Sharapova has won three Grand Slam singles titles. In 2004, she beat Serena Williams to take the Wimbledon title at the age of 17. Two years later, she defeated Justine Henin in the final of the 2006 U.S. Open. At the 2008 Australian Open, she beat Ana Ivanović in the final.

Playing style

Sharapova has been labeled as a power baseliner by tennis critics and fans. She is noted for having an excellent double-handed backhand and serves, particularly for the power and placement of these shots. She is also noted for having a good forehand. Likewise, critics claim that for her height, Sharapova has decent agility on-court. Being an offensive player, Sharapova is usually able to overpower her opponents or keep them on the run with sharp angles from the baseline. Because of this agressive play, she excels on the fast-playing grass and hard courts, but is not as dangerous on clay (indeed, as of January 2008, she is yet to reach a WTA final on the surface). This is because she is not among the strongest of defensive players. She can lose precision on her groundstrokes when she is put on the run herself, a weakness that the best all-around players will exploit. Sharapova is also not a natural volleyer. Instead, she typically uses a powerful "swinging" volley for net approaches. Sharapova usually serves for placement, but uses enough power on her first and second serve that attacking that stroke is very difficult for her opponents. She has been trying to develop her "all-power" game, while also adding in slice, drop shots and drop volleys.

Due to shoulder injuries, Sharapova adopted a new service action with a shorter backswing after Wimbledon 2007. Her first and second serve became less effective during the majority of the 2007 season. Previously, she had an elongated backswing to generate power on her serve. However, as a trade-off, the swing also placed incredible strain on her shoulder, leading to Sharapova's shoulder injury at the beginning of the 2007 season. With her shoulder injury apparently healed, Sharapova has since returned to her elongated service motion, and her serve has been more effective in 2008.

Sharapova is ambidextrous and played left-handed until she was ten years old, before deciding to play right-handed. Although she almost always employs a right-handed forehand and double-handed backhand, she has one of the most accurate double-handed backhand shots and is known to occasionally hit left-handed shots as a result of her early left-handed training. She has also been criticised for her on-court "grunting," reaching 101 decibels (the volume of a police siren) during a match at Wimbledon 2005.

Early life

The Chernobyl nuclear accident in 1986 compelled Sharapova's parents, Yuri and Yelena, to move from Gomel, Belarus, to the town of Nyagan in Siberia, Russia to live with Yelena's father. Maria was born the following year.

Sharapova's father brought her to the United States when she was seven years old, to attend the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Bradenton, Florida. Her mother, Yelena, could not come with them because of visa restrictions, and followed two years later. Sharapova has lived in the United States since then, but retains her Russian citizenship. She has a home in Manhattan Beach, California.

Career

2003: Early promise

Having turned professional in 2001, though mainly playing on the ITF Circuit for her first two years, Sharapova hit the WTA Tour full-time in 2003. She qualified for both the Australian Open and French Open, though lost in the first round in both. Her first taste of real success came at Wimbledon; having been issued a wildcard, the 16-year-old progressed to the fourth round, defeating 11th seed Jelena Dokic en route, but then lost a tight match to compatriot Svetlana Kuznetsova.

Sharapova then won her first title at the Tier III tournament in Tokyo, becoming the youngest WTA titlist of the year and followed this up by winning another Tier III tournament in Quebec City. She finished a very successful first full year on the tour ranked 32nd, and was named the WTA Newcomer of the Year.

2004: Breakthrough year

Sharapova reached the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam for the first time at the 2004 French Open, where she lost to Paola Suarez. Immediately afterwards, she seized her third title at Birmingham, a grass-court Wimbledon warm-up event.

The 17-year-old Sharapova went into Wimbledon as the thirteenth seed, but tipped by some to perhaps cause some upsets . She made it to her second straight Grand Slam quarterfinal, where she defeated Ai Sugiyama 5-7, 7-5, 6-1, and then upset former world number one Lindsay Davenport 2-6, 7-6, 6-1 in the semifinals. She faced two-time defending champion Serena Williams in the final, with Williams the runaway favorite; however, Sharapova defeated Williams 6-1, 6-4, to become the third-youngest Wimbledon women's champion (after Lottie Dod and Martina Hingis) and second-youngest in the open era, the first Russian to win that tournament and the lowest seed to win the women's event at that time (though Venus Williams would be seeded lower on her championship wins in 2005 and 2007).

At the 2004 U.S. Open a few months later, she lost to French player and two-time Grand Slam champion Mary Pierce in the third round. During the tournament, Sharapova and several other Russian women tennis players wore a black ribbon in observance of the tragedy after the Beslan school hostage crisis which took place only a few days before.

Sharapova continued her successful season by winning a title in Seoul, defending her Tokyo title, and reaching her first Tier I final in Zurich. She ended 2004 with a victory at the season-ending WTA Championships, defeating an injured Serena Williams (4-6, 6-2, 6-4) after coming back from 0-4 in the final set.

Sharapova finished 2004 ranked fourth in the world and the second-ranked Russian (behind Anastasia Myskina). She won five titles during the year, trailing only Lindsay Davenport's seven, and equal to Justine Henin-Hardenne and Amelie Mauresmo. Sharapova also topped the prizewinnings list for the women that season.

2005: Consistency

Sharapova started the year by reaching the semifinals of the Australian Open, where she lost to eventual champion Serena Williams 2-6, 7-5, 8-6, despite holding three match points in the match. In February, she won her first Tier I event in Tokyo, and followed this up with success in Doha.

After reaching the French Open quarterfinals for the second straight year (losing to eventual champion Justine Henin-Hardenne), Sharapova successfully defended her Birmingham title, defeating Jelena Janković in the final to extend her winning streak on grass to 17 matches. She then moved on to the task of defending her Wimbledon title where she reached the semifinals without losing a set, but then was well beaten by a rejuvenated Venus Williams, the eventual champion, 7-6, 6-1. Sharapova's 22-match streak on grass was ended, as was her quest to dethrone top-ranked Lindsay Davenport.

However, Davenport 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. Sharapova had fewer points to defend and therefore rose to the 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.

As the top seed at the U.S. Open, Sharapova reached the semifinals, losing to eventual champion Kim Clijsters. This meant that she had lost to the eventual champion at all four Grand Slam events that year. Nevertheless, the points accumulated meant she once again leapfrogged Davenport to take the No. 1 ranking again on September 12, 2005. She kept the No. 1 ranking for six weeks before relinquishing it again to Davenport following the 2005 Zurich Open.

Sharapova failed to defend her title at the WTA Championships, losing in the semifinals to eventual champion Amelie Mauresmo, but she still finished the year ranked number four again, and as the top-ranked Russian for the first time. She won three titles during the year, and was the only player that year to make it to three Grand Slam semi-finals.

2006: A second major title

Sharapova started the year by going out in the semi-finals of the Australian Open, losing to Justine Henin-Hardenne 4-6 6-1 6-4, the only match that year that Sharapova lost after winning the first set. She then won her first title of the year at the Tier I tournament in Indian Wells, before moving onto Miami, where she had the chance to become just the third woman in history to win the Indian Wells-Miami double, but lost to Svetlana Kuznetsova in the final.

A serious ankle injury forced Sharapova to miss most of the clay court season, and as a result, she played at the 2006 French Open without having played any of the tune-ups. She was eliminated by Dinara Safina in the fourth round 7-5 2-6 7-5, after serving for the match twice. On grass, Sharapova failed to add a third consecutive Birmingham title to her collection, but was nevertheless considered the title favourite by many at Wimbledon; however, she lost in the semifinals to world number one and eventual champion Amelie Mauresmo. It marked Sharapova’s fifth consecutive defeat in a Grand Slam semifinal.

Sharapova claimed her second title of the year in San Diego, where she defeated Kim Clijsters for the first time in the final. Coupled with a run to the semifinals in Los Angeles, she finished second in the U.S. Open Series standings that year.

Sharapova went into the U.S. Open seeded third after Clijsters dropped out with a wrist injury. She made the quarterfinals without dropping a set, before defeating Tatiana Golovin 7-6 7-6. She then defeated Mauresmo for the first time in the semifinals with a score of 6-0 4-6 6-0 to make her second Grand Slam final, before defeating number two Justine Henin-Hardenne 6-4 6-4 in the final to collect her second Grand Slam title and join the list of eight players who had defeated the top two players en route to a Grand Slam title.

Sharapova collected two titles back-to-back in the indoors season: in Zurich and in Linz. She then moved onto the WTA Tour Championships, where she won all three of her round-robin matches in straight sets to extend her winning streak to 19 matches. However, she was then defeated in the semifinals by eventual champion Henin-Hardenne 6-2 7-6. She 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: Mixed results

As the top seed at the Australian Open (due to Justine Henin's withdrawal), Sharapova reached the final at the tournament for the first time, but then was crushed 6-1 6-2 by Serena Williams, ranked 81st at the time. However, Sharapova's run to the final allowed her to recapture the world number one spot, holding it for seven weeks before a fourth round loss at Indian Wells saw her hand the position back to Henin.

A shoulder injury would plague the majority of Sharapova's 2007 season, initially forcing her to miss most of the clay court season. She went into the French Open having played just one warm-up tournament (in Istanbul, where she reached the semifinals), but registered her best performance at the tournament to date, reaching the semifinals before losing 6-2 6-1 to Ana Ivanovic. She then moved onto the British grass season, and, after losing in the final at Birmingham, was defeated in the fourth round at Wimbledon by eventual champion Venus Williams 6-1 6-3.

After a short break due to her persistent shoulder problems, Sharapova claimed her first (and what would prove to be only) title of 2007 at the last ever edition of the Acura Classic in San Diego. A run to the semifinals in Los Angeles was enough for Sharapova to clinch the U.S. Open Series for the first time. Seeded second at the 2007 U.S. Open, Sharapova was placed in the more favorable bottom half of the draw, and as such, was widely expected to reach the final , but ultimately lost in the third round to 18-year-old Pole Agnieszka Radwanska 6-4 1-6 6-2, her earliest exit at a Grand Slam in three years.

Due to yet another recurrence of the shoulder injury, Sharapova played just one match over the next two months, a defeat to Victoria Azarenka in Moscow. In October, Sharapova fell out of the top five on the rankings for the first time since 2004. Going into the 2007 WTA Tour Championships, she placed just ninth on the Race rankings, and was only awarded qualification to the tournament due to Venus Williams's withdrawal. However, Sharapova confounded expectations by making the final at the tournament, with wins over Daniela Hantuchova, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Ana Ivanovic and Anna Chakvetadze en route. She then lost to Justine Henin 5-7 7-5 6-3, in a match lasting 3 hours, 24 minutes, the 12th longest women's match in the open era.

Sharapova ended the year as number five on the official WTA tour rankings, 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. Kuznetsova, who finished World No. 2, held that honor. 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: A third major title

Sharapova went into the 2008 Australian Open as the fifth seed, but as one of the favourites to take the title after her strong end-of-season showing. She reached the quarterfinals without dropping a set, where she then snapped world number one Justine Henin's 32-match winning streak with a 6-4, 6-0 victory, before reaching her second consecutive final in Melbourne and fourth Grand Slam final overall with a 6-3, 6-1 win over third seed Jelena Janković. She then defeated fourth seed Ana Ivanović 7-5, 6-3 in the finals, having dropped just 10 points on serve in the match , and thus becoming the first Russian woman to take this title, and marking the first time Sharapova had won a Grand Slam without dropping a set.

Fed Cup participation

One of the factors that has attracted controversy during Sharapova's career is the question of her national identity; more specifically, her representation of Russia in the Fed Cup. The issue first came to the fore at the end of 2004, when compatriot Anastasia Myskina stated she would stop playing for Russia if Sharapova joined. Nonetheless, Russia's captain was keen for Sharapova to play in the tie against Italy in April 2005, but Sharapova opted against playing to focus on her individual results. At the end of 2005, Sharapova stated she was now keen to make her debut and was set to play against Belgium in April 2006, but again withdrew.

Sharapova later withdrew from ties against Spain in April 2007 and against the USA in July 2007 due to 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, which attracted controversy from her Russian teammates, with some implying she was only attending in order 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 commented "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 (6-4 6-0) and Shahar Peer (6-1 6-1), helping Russia to a 4-1 victory.

Off-court

Sharapova has generally attempted to keep her private life secret during her career. In the past, she has been romantically linked to fellow tennis players Andy Roddick and Novak Djokovic, as well as Maroon 5's Adam Levine. However, none of these relationships have ever been confirmed by Sharapova herself.

Sharapova has in the past implied she will not does not see herself playing tennis for a great deal more years. In early 2007, as 23-year-old Kim Clijsters prepared to retire, Sharapova stated her approval and hinted that she may go down a similar path, stating "There are a lot of other things in life. I want to have a family and I can definitely see myself retiring at a similar age to Kim."

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.

Sharapova posed in a six-page bikini photoshoot spread in the 2006 issue of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, annual magazine that debuted on Valentine's Day, along with 25 scantily-clad supermodels. Sharapova joined the ranks of other athletes who have previously appeared in the publication.

In April 2005, Sharapova was listed by People Magazine as among the 50 most beautiful celebrities in the world. In 2006, Maxim magazine named Sharapova the hottest athlete in the world for the fourth consecutive year. In a poll run by Britain's FHM magazine, Sharapova was voted the seventh most eligible bachelorette. Voting took into consideration both "wealth and looks."

Activism

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.

Endorsements

Sharapova's endorsements have earned her considerably more than she has won in tournament play. 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."

On January 14, 2008, Sharapova and Sony Ericsson signed a four-year sponsorship agreement, and Canon U.S.A., Inc., announced an extension of its marketing relationship with Sharapova through 2010.

Sharapova used the Prince Tour Diablo for part of 2003 and then used several different Prince racquets until the U.S. 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 MP 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.

She endorses Nike accessories, apparel, and footwear. She is well known for designing her tennis outfits, her most memorable being her 2006 nighttime US Open dress, inspired by Audrey Hepburn's look from Breakfast at Tiffany's.

Current Sponsors:

• Canon
• Colgate
• Gatorade
• Landrover
• Nike, Inc.
• Parlux Fragrances
• Prince Sports - signed a lifetime endorsement in 2007.
• Samantha Thavasa
• Sony Ericsson
• Tag Heuer
• Tropicana

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

Quotations

• When asked at the press conference after the 2006 U.S. 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.

Grand Slam singles finals

Wins (3)

Year	Championship	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
2004	Wimbledon	Serena Williams	6-1, 6-4
2006	U.S. Open	Justine Henin	6-4, 6-4
2008	Australian Open	Ana Ivanović	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 (20)

Singles (17)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score
1.	September 29, 2003	Japan Open Tennis Championships, Tokyo	Hard	Anikó Kapros	2-6, 6-2, 7-6(5)
2.	October 27, 2003	Quebec City, Canada	Hard (i)	Milagros Sequera	6-2 retired
3.	June 7, 2004	Birmingham, United Kingdom	Grass	Tatiana Golovin	4-6, 6-2, 6-1
4.	June 21, 2004	Wimbledon, United Kingdom	Grass	Serena Williams	6-1, 6-4
5.	September 27, 2004	Seoul, Korea	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, U.S.	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	Doha, Qatar	Hard	Alicia Molik	4-6, 6-1, 6-4
10.	June 6, 2005	Birmingham, United Kingdom	Grass	Jelena Janković	6-2, 4-6, 6-1
11.	March 18, 2006	Indian Wells, U.S.	Hard	Elena Dementieva	6-1, 6-2
12.	August 6, 2006	San Diego, U.S.	Hard	Kim Clijsters	7-5, 7-5
13.	September 9, 2006	U.S. Open, U.S.	Hard	Justine Henin	6-4, 6-4
14.	October 22, 2006	Zürich, Switzerland	Hard (i)	Daniela Hantuchová	6-1, 4-6, 6-3
15.	October 29, 2006	Linz, Austria	Hard (i)	Nadia Petrova	7-5, 6-2
16.	August 5, 2007	San Diego, U.S.	Hard	Patty Schnyder	6-2, 3-6, 6-0
17.	January 26, 2008	Australian Open	Hard	Ana Ivanović	7-5, 6-3

Doubles (3)

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

WTA Tour runner-ups (8)

Singles (7)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score
1.	October 24, 2004	Zurich, Switzerland	Hard	Alicia Molik	4-6, 6-2, 6-3
2.	March 3, 2005	Miami, U.S.	Hard	Kim Clijsters	6-3, 7-5
3.	February 26, 2006	Dubai, United Arab Emirates	Hard	Justine Henin	7-5, 6-2
4.	March 2, 2006	Miami, 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	Birmingham, United Kingdom	Grass	Jelena Janković	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	Memphis, 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

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 the first round of Fed Cup, which ended on February 3, 2008.

A = did not participate in the tournament.

SR = the ratio of the number of singles tournaments won to the number of those tournaments played.

- = tournament was either not held or was not a Tier I event at the time it was held.

Doha became a Tier I event in 2008. San Diego and Zurich are no longer Tier I events.

If ITF women's circuit (Hardcourt: 22-4; Clay: 9-1) participation is included, then her overall win-loss record stands at 282-66.

WTA Tour career earnings

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 U.S. 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 Miami 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 San Diego final: defeated Clijsters 7-5, 7-5. This was Sharapova's first victory over the Belgian and her first title in San Diego. After this match, Sharapova lost just two more matches during 2006 and claimed three additional titles, including the U.S. Open.

2006 U.S. Open semifinal: defeated Amelie Mauresmo, the World No. 1, 6-0, 4-6, 6-0. This was the first U.S. Open semifinal with two 6-0 sets.

2006 U.S. 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. This was only the eighth time in history that a player beat the world's top two ranked players in a Grand Slam event.

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 12th longest women's match in the open era. It was widely agreed as the best women's match of 2007, with some citing it as an all-time classic.

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.

References

1. ^ "Players / Women / Profile Maria Sharapova - Russia".
2. Martin, John (September 7, 2006). "The Highest Paid Female Athlete On The Planet; Why Sharapova Is So Hot". ABC News. Retrieved 2006-09-07. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
3. Maria Sharapova - Tennis Game Profile
4. Maria Sharapova - Tennis Game Profile
5. Why do women tennis stars grunt?
6. ^ Associated Press (2007-08-13). "Maria Sharapova plans 1st trip back to Chernobyl since family fled". International Herald Tribune.
7. "Maria Sharapova Inc". Sydney Morning Herald (Australia). 2008-01-20. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
8. Cite error: The named reference Guardian_2004_11_28 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
9. Kathy Ehrich-Dowd (2006-04-17). "Celebrity Q & A - Maria Sharapova". People Magazine.
10. Maria Sharapova profile (Jan 2004)
11. Sharapova's chance to shine
12. Sharapova is tough nut to crack
13. Sharapova puts loss in perspective
14. Women to watch at Wimbledon (2006)
15. Henman handed tough US Open draw
16. Superb Henin retains Madrid title
17. Australian Open 2008 Final Statistics
18. Myskina stands by Fed Cup threat
19. Sharapova left out of Russia team
20. Sharapova keen to play for Russia
21. Sharapova delays debut for Russia
22. Sharapova to miss Fed Cup debut
23. Sharapova pull-out angers Russia
24. Russia drop Sharapova for Fed Cup
25. Row over Sharapova's Fed Cup show
26. Sharapova is dating Roddick
27. Maria Sharapova with Novak Djokovic
28. Adam Levine dating rumours
29. Home straight in sight for Clijsters
30. Ad agency sued over lewd picture of Maria Sharapova
31. "Rod's daughter most eligible". NEWS.COM.AU. February 28, 2007. Retrieved 2007-02-28.
32. "Maria Sharapova and Sony Ericsson sign 4 year contract". Mobiles2day.com. Maria Sharapova and Sony Ericsson sign 4 year contract
33. "CANON U.S.A. EXTENDS RELATIONSHIP WITH TENNIS STAR MARIA SHARAPOVA THROUGH 2010". Canon U.S.A., Inc.
34. Tennis Warehouse - Maria Sharapova
35. Tennis: At last, Sharapova proves it - she's not a 1-hit wonder
36. Beaten Sharapova turns on media
37. Maria Sharapova Official Site
38. Maria Sharapova quotes
39. Sharapova proves her worth
40. JockBio: Maria Sharapova Quotes

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
• Sharapova's record versus other players
• Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue: Maria Sharapova
• Maria Sharapova's Myspace page
• Sony Ericsson WTA Tour
• WTA Ranking Points

Template:Persondata

• 1987 births
• Living people
• People from Florida
• Russian expatriates in the United States
• Russian female models
• Russian polyglots
• Russian tennis players
• US Open champions
• Wimbledon champions