Maria Yuryevna Sharapova (born April 19, 1987) is a former World No. 1
professional tennis player and the world's highest-paid female athlete.
Sharapova has acquired two career Grand Slam titles. She is the reigning U.S.
Open champion, winning the 2006 title over Justine Henin-Hardenne; and, two
years earlier, the 2004 Wimbledon Championships over Serena Williams.
In 2004, Sharapova became the third-youngest Wimbledon women's champion (after
Lottie Dod and Martina Hingis) and second-youngest in the Open Era by defeating
Ai Sugiyama (5-7, 7-5, 6-1) in the quarterfinals, Lindsay Davenport (2-6, 7-6,
6-1) in the semifinals, and two-time defending champion Serena Williams (6-1,
6-4). She also became the first Russian to win that tournament. Sharapova
followed it up with a victory at the season-ending WTA Championships, defeating
Williams (4-6, 6-2, 6-4). In the final set, she came back from a 0-4 deficit.
From June 2004 until her Wimbledon semi-final appearance in 2005, Sharapova had
a 22-match winning streak on grass, including back-to-back Birmingham titles and
the Wimbledon crown. Sharapova's huge success continued after winning Wimbledon,
both on the court, making the semi-finals of the 2005 Australian Open, and off
it, with numerous endorsements following.
Defending her Wimbledon title in 2005, Sharapova sailed through to the
semi-finals without losing a set, then lost to a rejuvenated Venus Williams
(6-7, 1-6). Sharapova's streak on grass was ended, as was her quest to dethrone
No. 1 Lindsay Davenport. However, a back injury that Davenport sustained in the
Wimbledon final meant that she could not defend the ranking points she obtained
during the US hard court season of 2004. Sharapova was also suffering from an
injury and did not complete a tournament during the season, but she had fewer
points to defend and therefore rose to the No. 1 ranking on August 22, 2005. Her
reign lasted only a week when Davenport re-ascended after winning the New Haven
title. Sharapova rose to the No. 1 ranking again on September 12, 2005 despite
losing in the semi-finals of the US Open. Sharapova would hold on to the No. 1
ranking for a further six weeks before relinquishing it again to Davenport
following the 2005 Zurich Open.
Her loss in the semifinal of the 2005 US Open against Kim Clijsters marked the
fourth time that season that she lost at a Grand Slam tournament against the
eventual champion: Australian Open-SF-Serena Williams, French Open-QF-Justine
Henin-Hardenne, Wimbledon-SF-Venus Williams, US Open-SF-Kim Clijsters. That
record was broken in January 2006, when Sharapova lost in the Australian Open
semi-final to Justine Henin-Hardenne. Henin-Hardenne went on to lose in the
final of the Australian Open to Amélie Mauresmo.
On March 18, 2006, Sharapova, as No. 3 seed, claimed her first title of the year
at the Pacific Life Open at Indian Wells (a Tier 1 event), defeating No.4 seed
Elena Dementieva in the final, 6-1 6-2. This was the 11th title of her career.
Sharapova was the first Russian to reach the final of the Pacific Life Open. As
Dementieva reached the final later, surprisingly defeating Justine
Henin-Hardenne, this was the first-ever all-Russian final at the event. Soon
after, Sharapova reached the final of the Nasdaq-100 Open losing to Svetlana
Kuznetsova 4-6, 3-6. She then took 2 months off because of an ankle injury,
resulting in her pulling out of events in Rome and Istanbul.
Sharapova decided to participate at the 2006 French Open despite having not
played any clay court tune-ups. After saving three match points in the first
round against Mashona Washington, Sharapova was eliminated in the fourth round
by Dinara Safina, blowing a lead of 5-1 in the third set, and losing 18 of the
last 21 points to lose 5-7, 6-2, 5-7. She welcomed the onset of the grass
season, but failed to add a third successive Birmingham title to her collection,
losing in the semi-finals to the inexperienced American player Jamea Jackson.
For the second consecutive year, Sharapova was defeated in the semi-finals of
The Championships, Wimbledon, losing to eventual winner Amélie Mauresmo 6-3,
3-6, 6-2. Sharapova currently has a 2-5 record in Grand Slam semi-finals.
Sharapova is currently ranked No. 3 in the world. Sharapova has a combined 3-7
record against the top 2 players in the world (1-3 against Mauresmo and 2-4
against Justine Henin-Hardenne). She is 1-4 against Kim Clijsters, another
former world No. 1.
Sharapova claimed her second title of 2006 (12th career title) as the second
seed at the Acura Classic in San Diego, defeating top seed Kim Clijsters, 7-5
7-5 (Her first victory over Clijsters in five meetings).
Sharapova entered the 2006 U.S. Open seeded third after Kim Clijsters dropped
out of the tournament. Considered a favorite to reach the final and even win the
title, she lived up to expectations defeating the number one player in the
world, Amélie Mauresmo, in the semi-finals with a score of 6-0, 4-6, 6-0. It was
the first time in the Open era, which began in 1968, that a female semifinalist
in the US Open lost two sets at love. Sharapova was victorious in the final,
beating Justine Henin-Hardenne in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4 to win her second
Grand Slam title
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