Li Na 李娜 Li Na at the 2010 Stuttgart Porsche Cup Country  China Residence Wuhan, Hubei, China Born (1982-02-26) February 26, 1982 (age 30) Wuhan, Hubei, China Height 1.72 m (5 ft 7 1⁄2 in) Weight 65 kg (140 lb; 10.2 st) Turned pro 1999 Plays Right handed (two-handed backhand) Career prize money $7,698,821 Singles Career record 410 - 158 （72.18%） Career titles 5 WTA, 19 ITF Highest ranking No. 4 (June 6, 2011) Current ranking No. 7 (May 28, 2012) Grand Slam Singles results Australian Open F (2011) French Open W (2011) Wimbledon QF (2006, 2010) US Open QF (2009) Other tournaments Championships RR (2011) Olympic Games 4th (2008) Doubles Career record 120–49 Career titles 2 WTA, 16 ITF Highest ranking No. 54 (August 28, 2006) Grand Slam Doubles results Australian Open 2R (2006, 2007) French Open 2R (2006, 2007) Wimbledon 2R (2006) US Open 3R (2005) Last updated on: May 28, 2012. Medal record Competitor for  China Women's Tennis Universiade Gold 2001 Beijing Singles Gold 2001 Beijing Doubles Gold 2001 Beijing Mixed Doubles Asian Games Gold 2010 Guangzhou Team Bronze 2006 Doha Singles Li Na Chinese 李娜 Transcriptions Mandarin - Hanyu Pinyin Lǐ Nà - Wade–Giles li3 na4 - IPA [lìnɑ̂]

Li Na (Chinese: 李娜; pinyin: Lǐ Nà^{[note 1]}; born February 26, 1982) is the top Chinese professional tennis player. Li has won 5 WTA and 19 ITF singles titles. Li won the 2011 French Open singles title, becoming the first player from an Asian country to win a Grand Slam in singles; she had already reached the final of the 2011 Australian Open, the first player from an Asian country to appear in a Grand Slam singles final.^{[note 2]} She is currently ranked World No. 7 and is the top Chinese player, out of 3 in the top 100.

Off the court[link]

Li Na was born on February 26, 1982, in Wuhan, Hubei, China. Her father Li Shengpeng (李盛鹏) was a professional badminton player and later worked as a sales rep for a Wuhan based company. He died from a rare cardiovascular disease when Li Na was 14.^[1]

At age six, Li Na started playing badminton, following her father's footsteps. Just before she turned eight, Li made the transition from badminton to tennis when she and her parents were convinced by coach Xia Xiyao of the Wuhan youth tennis club that this would be the right career move for her.^[2] Li joined China's National Tennis Team in 1997 and turned pro in 1999.

At the end of 2002, Li left the national tennis team to study part-time at Huazhong University of Science and Technology, where she completed her bachelor's degree in journalism in 2009. The Chinese media cited various reasons for this. Some reported that the relationship between her and her teammate, future husband Jiang Shan (姜山), was opposed by the national team's management,^[3] some reported that her coach Yu Liqiao (余丽桥) was too strict and demanding,^[4] while other reports claimed that her request for a personal coach did not go through.^[5]

However, Li returned to the national team in 2004. Jiang Shan married Li and became her personal coach in 2006. Li quit the national team^[6] as well as the state-run sports system in 2008 under an experimental reform policy for tennis players. This change was called "Fly Alone" (单飞) by Chinese media.^[7] As a result Li had the freedom to pick her own coaching staff and she could keep more of her winnings.^[8] Only 8 to 12 percent of her winnings go to the government as opposed to 65 percent previously.^[9]

Career[link]

This section of a biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (June 2011)

This section may contain an excessive amount of intricate detail that may only interest a specific audience. Please help relocate any relevant information, and remove excessive detail that may be against Wikipedia inclusion policy. (June 2011)

Between 1999 and 2004, Li won 20 women's singles titles: 19 ITF events and one—the first ever won by a Chinese woman—on the WTA Tour. In January 2008, she won her second WTA Tour title after a drought of over three and a quarter years.

Li also frequently enters doubles tournaments at events alongside singles, and has won two WTA doubles titles and 16 further ITF doubles events. Her early success in doubles came mostly with Li Ting (unrelated); but more recently she has made a habit of forming temporary women's doubles partnerships with players with whom she has previously enjoyed a healthy rivalry through repeated head-to-head meetings in singles tournaments, notably Liu Nan-Nan, Nicole Pratt, Yan Zi, Jelena Janković, and Peng Shuai.

Her career has been plagued by injuries and other troubles that have prevented her from playing for lengthy periods. She suffered a two-year hiatus from competition in her early 20s, lost several months at the height of the 2005 season to an ankle injury, and lost the second half of 2007 to a rib injury.

1999–2002[link]

Li turned professional in 1999, and that year won three of the very first four singles tournaments she entered on the ITF Circuit, two at Shenzhen and one at Westende, Belgium. She also won all of her first seven ITF doubles tournaments she entered.

In 2000, she won a total of 52 singles matches on the ITF circuit, more than any other player, notching another eight tournament titles including one at $50,000 level, two at $25,000, and an unbroken run of four successive $10,000 tournament wins in March and April.

Notable individual victories in the course of the year included wins over Flavia Pennetta, Emmanuelle Gagliardi, Maria Elena Camerin, Tamarine Tanasugarn and Yayuk Basuki.

In June, after Li's world ranking had risen to no. 136 on the strength of her ITF performances alone, she gained direct entry into her first WTA Tour event at Tashkent. Despite winning the first set, Li lost her first WTA singles match to Anna Zaporozhanova in three sets, 6–0, 4–6, 1–6, but she captured the women's doubles title at Tashkent with Li Ting against Zaporozhanova and Iroda Tulyaganova.

By the end of 2000, Li had won four WTA singles matches, this brought her cumulative ITF singles title count up to 11. That year, she also won seven more ITF doubles events, 6 of them with Li Ting.

Li was mostly absent from the tour in 2001. She won two further $25,000 ITF singles tournaments, defeating Roberta Vinci in the final at Ho Chi Min City, Vietnam, and Liu Nan-Nan in the final at Guangzhou in July, but then played only one further match for the rest of the year, leading her ranking to fall to no. 303 by the year's close.

She won her 15th career ITF doubles tournament at Hangzhou in March.

In 2002, she came through qualifying to win her first $75,000 singles tournament at Midland, USA in February, defeating Laura Granville, Tatiana Perebiynis, and Mashona Washington en route to the title, the 14th of her career. But she then played only one more match (a loss to Zuzana Ondrášková in the $50,000 event at Dinan, France that April), followed by a lengthy absence from the circuit for the next 25 months.

Sources vary as to the causes of this absence, the Chinese media mostly cited the conflict between her and the China's National Tennis Team's administration and coaching staff.^[3][4][5] Some claimed that she just wanted a break from professional tennis so she could concentrate on her studies at the university.

2004[link]

In May 2004, she returned to the circuit unranked, and won 26 successive matches to notch three further $25,000 tournament wins and another $50,000 title, increasing her career singles title count to 18, only to have her winning streak finally snapped by Evgenia Linetskaya in the semifinal of the $50,000 Bronx tournament that August. However, she won her 16th ITF doubles tournament at the same event, the 17th overall doubles title of her career.

That September, she lost in the final of a $25,000 tournament to compatriot Zheng Jie, before returning to the WTA circuit, thanks to a wildcard entry into qualifying at the Beijing. There, she defeated Antonella Serra Zanetti, Marta Domachowska, and Nicole Pratt before losing in the deciding-set tie-break after a very close second-round main-draw tussle against newly crowned US Open Champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, during which she held match points against Kuznetsova. The final scores were 6–3, 6–7, 6–7, and the Russian afterwards praised her Chinese opponent, stating that she had felt as though she was up against a top-5 player.

The very next week, Li battled her way through qualifying into the WTA event at Guangzhou (a Tier IV event at the time, though since up-graded to Tier III), then beat Vera Dushevina, Jelena Janković, Kristina Brandi, and Li Ting in the main draw to reach the final, where she overcame Martina Suchá, 6–3, 6–4, to claim her first WTA Tour title. In so doing, she became the first Chinese woman to win a WTA event.

On the back of the ranking points accrued through this result, on October 4, 2004, she broke into the WTA top 100 for the first time.

To cap off her most successful year as a singles player yet, she competed in two $50,000 ITF tournaments at Shenzhen, winning the first outright to bring her the 19th ITF singles title and 20th overall singles title of her career, but losing in the quarterfinals of the second to lower-ranked country-woman Yan Zi, 7–6, 3–6, 2–6. These results elevated Li Na to world no. 80 by the close of the year, a year in which she won 51 singles matches and lost just four.

2005[link]

2005 saw Li finally abandoning the ITF circuit to focus solely on WTA-level events.

She began the year in January with a second-round performance at Gold Coast and a semifinal showing at Hobart, but losing to fellow Chinese player and eventual tournament champion Zheng Jie), then reached the third round at the Australian Open, where she defeated Laura Granville and Shinobu Asagoe, before losing to Maria Sharapova, 0–6, 2–6.

In early February, she reached the quarterfinals at Hyderabad and qualified for Doha where she was narrowly beaten, 5–7, 6–3, 5–7, by Patty Schnyder in the first round of the main draw. After a victory over Ai Sugiyama in the first round at Dubai the following week, it was Schnyder once again who stopped her from reaching the latter stages of the event, this time 3–6, 6–7.

After taking a month off from competition, Li returned at Estoril in late April, defeating Stéphanie Cohen-Aloro, Nicole Pratt, Dally Randriantefy, and Dinara Safina, whom she vanquished, 6–1, 6–1, to reach her second WTA Tour final, only to be denied the title by Czech qualifier Lucie Šafářová, who prevailed in a close three-set match, 7–6, 4–6, 3–6.

At Rabat in May, Li reached the semifinal stage, but further success proved ultimately elusive for her. With the score leveled at 3–3,she retired due to a right ankle sprain while clashing with Zheng Jie. Reaching this semifinal propelled her to a career-high world ranking of no. 33, but the injury she had sustained was destined to keep her out of action for the next three months.

On her return at Los Angeles in August, she fell in the first round to Anna Chakvetadze of Russia. The following week, however, at the Canadian Open, she once more beat Jelena Janković and María Vento-Kabchi, before losing to Nadia Petrova at the quarterfinal stage.

It was Lindsay Davenport who proved her undoing in her next two tournaments, beating her 4–6, 4–6, in the first round of the US Open, and 2–6, 2–6, at the semifinal stage in Bali in September, but not before Li Na had avenged her previous year's defeat by Yan Zi in the second round of the same tournament.

The following week, another highly ranked American player, Jill Craybas, narrowly defeated Li Na in a close three-set first-round match at Beijing.

On September 26, Li Na commenced her defence of her Guangzhou title; but she was prevented from completing it in the quarterfinals by eventual champion Yan Zi, who thereby edged out in front in their head-to-head record once again. This second loss in three head-to-heads against Yan proved to be Li's last match of 2005; and in her absence from the Shenzhen $50,000 tournaments where she had notched up some ranking points late the previous year, she found herself slipping further in the rankings from the high-point of no. 33 that she had reached in the spring before her injury break, to no. 56 at the year's close.

2006[link]

With nearly all her remaining ranking points to defend concentrated in a little over the first four months of the year, Li Na began the year faced with the challenge of equalling her strong results from the early part of 2005 in order to maintain her position in the middle reaches of the WTA top 100.

Early-round draws against high-ranked players towards the beginning of 2006 took a heavy toll on Li's singles ranking, bringing it slipping down to no. 71 by the end of February.

She returned with a career-best performance at Tier I events by reaching the semifinal at Berlin. On the way there, she achieved her first victory over a current top-10-ranked player as she ousted Patty Schnyder for the first time at the quarterfinal stage. However, this match left her with a muscle sprain, and she lost to Nadia Petrova in the semifinal. Nonetheless, her performance at this high-level tournament saw her ranked no. 39.

Joining the WTA grass-court season for the first time at the DFS Classic tournament at Birmingham in June, she managed another third-round finish with wins over Mashona Washington and grass-court specialist Eleni Daniilidou, both in straight sets, then lost for the third time in three meetings to Maria Sharapova. Her ranking following this tournament was no. 30, which was at that time the highest ever ranking achieved by a Chinese woman.

At the same event, partnering Jelena Janković, she notched up her second career WTA doubles title, almost exactly six years from her first at Tashkent.

An early retirement against Alona Bondarenko in the first round of the Ondina Open at Hertogenbosch the following week curtailed her final competitive preparations for her debut appearance at Wimbledon. But with an entry ranking of 30th, she found herself seeded 27th after some withdrawals, and thus achieved another first for her country in becoming the first Chinese woman ever to be seeded for entry into a Grand Slam tournament.

At Wimbledon, she reached the fourth round with comfortable straight-sets wins over respected grass-court players Virginie Razzano and recent Birmingham semifinalist Meilen Tu, followed by victory against 10th seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova, resulting in her being the first Chinese player ever to reach any Grand Slam quarterfinal. Li rose to a new career high WTA ranking of no. 20 following the tournament, even though she ultimately lost her quarterfinal match against Kim Clijsters in two close sets.

She reached the quarterfinals at Stockholm, and the fourth round at the US Open, where she was beaten by Maria Sharapova, 4–6, 2–6. She then reached the quarterfinals at the China Open, where she was beaten by Svetlana Kuznetsova, and in Guangzhou.

2007[link]

Li Na at 2008 Fortis Championships Luxembourg

Li Na started the year by participating a Tier III event in Gold Coast, Australia, where she reached the second round. The next week, she competed in Sydney. She defeated Francesca Schiavone in the first round, Elena Dementieva in the second, saving five match points, and Katarina Srebotnik in the quarterfinal. Then, she made it to the semifinals, losing a tough match to Kim Clijsters, 6–1, 1–6, 5–7. However, she rose to a career high of no.16 afterwards.

Li Na followed her strong showing at the Medibank tournament with an equally strong showing at the 2007 Australian Open, where she advanced to the fourth round. Seeded 19th, Li dispatched Elena Bovina and Lourdes Domínguez Lino in straight sets through the first two rounds, leading to a matchup with no. 9 Dinara Safina. The match was postponed due to rain, but Li handedly beat Safina, 6–2, 6–2, to advance to the fourth round to play Swiss star, no. 6 Martina Hingis. Due to a rain delay and the fact that Hingis played on Rod Laver Arena, a roofed court, on the originally scheduled day, Hingis had an extra day of rest. The match the previous day seemed to have no effect, as Li took the first set from Hingis. However, Na faded as the match went on and lost, 6–4, 3–6, 0–6, committing 69 unforced errors. Despite the loss, the tournament was a success for Na, as it marked the third straight time in a Grand Slam that she advanced at least to the fourth round.

At the Tier I Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, Japan, Li advanced to the second round, defeating Lilia Osterloh, 6–3, 6–2, before losing to Samantha Stosur, 2–6, 4–6, converting 0 of 11 break points.

At the important Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, California, Li made a strong showing, advancing to the semifinals. She lost to Daniela Hantuchová in the semifinal, 5–7,6–4, 1–6. She continued her good form at the Miami Masters, losing just three games in her first two matches against Tamira Paszek and Katarina Srebotnik, before stunning fourth-seeded Kim Clijsters, 4–6, 6–4, 6–2. She then lost in the quarterfinals to Anna Chakvetadze, 6–4, 5–7, 2–6.

She then moved onto the green clay of Amelia Island, where she suffered a shock second-round exit after receiving a first round bye to former top-20 player Karolina Šprem in straight sets, 3–6, 3–6. At the Family Circle Cup held in Charleston, South Carolina, she fell in the third round to Anabel Medina Garrigues, 4–6, 5–7.

After losing in a grass tune-up event in Birmingham, Li pulled out of every tournament she was to play in the summer, including Wimbledon and the US Open, citing a rib injury.

2008[link]

Li Na at the 2008 Wimbledon Championships.

Li Na had not played a professional match in half a year and had resultantly slipped to no. 29 in the WTA rankings when she returned from her rib injury in January 2008 to compete at the 2008 Mondial Australian Women's Hardcourts in Gold Coast, Australia. In the first round, she narrowly defeated seventh seed Sybille Bammer, 6–4, 4–6, 6–4. After a comfortable second round victory over wildcard Monique Adamczak, she was drawn to meet the top seed Nicole Vaidišová in the quarterfinals. Li won their encounter in straight sets, 6–3, 6–3, advancing to the semifinals, where she edged past Patty Schnyder, 3–6, 6–3, 7–5.^[10] In the final, she narrowly prevailed against Victoria Azarenka, 4–6, 6–3, 6–4, to score her first singles title since Guangzhou in 2004 and the second WTA singles title in her overall career.

Despite rising back up to world no. 24 following this victory, she then withdrew from the 2008 Medibank International in Sydney, after suffering a right knee injury. Her failure to defend her previous year's semifinal performance at this event cost her 125 ranking points, which dipped her ranking back down to no. 30 for the week beginning 14 January.

Going into the 2008 Australian Open, she had a further 140 ranking points to defend from her fourth-round performance in 2007. Faced with a relatively lenient draw in the early rounds, she survived a close three-set tussle with Séverine Brémond in the first round, before surpassing Maria Elena Camerin in straight sets in round two. A revitalised Marta Domachowska remained between her and the defence of her ranking points, and although Li Na won the first set convincingly, 6–2, she faltered thereafter and finally ceded the match to her Polish opponent by a single break of serve in the closely fought deciding set.

Having slipped three places to world no. 33 by the time she entered the Tier II tournament at Antwerp in early February, she nonetheless progressed to the semifinals with back-to-back straight-sets wins over Russian veteran Elena Likhovtseva, 6–1, 6–1, Slovak world no. 45 Dominika Cibulková, 6–4, 6–4 and on-form Swedish world no. 66 Sofia Arvidsson, 7–5, 6–4. However, she came unstuck in the semifinals against world no. 47 Karin Knapp, despite having taken an early lead with a break of service in the first set, ultimately ceding the match to her Italian opponent, 4–6, 6–7. This tournament brought her back up within the top 30 at world no. 29.

The next week in the Tier I 2008 Qatar Total Open, Li met Likhovtseva again in the first round, and this time, after taking the first set comfortably, was challenged to a much tougher battle, but eventually won, 6–1, 0–6, 6–4. In round 2, she scored her second straight-sets victory in four career head-to-heads against Russian world no. 6 Anna Chakvetadze (whom she had last beaten at the French Open in 2005), saving a set point in the first set tie-break, before recovering to win, 7–6, 6–4. In the third round, she enjoyed a more comfortable victory over Israeli world no. 17 Shahar Pe'er, recovering from a 1–3 deficit in the second set to win, 6–1, 6–3.

In the quarterfinals, she met her old rival and friend world no. 4 Jelena Janković, coming into the match with a winning 3–1 head-to-head record to her credit against the Serbian player. By defeating Janković, 6–3, 6–4, she extended this record to 4:1 and moved into the semifinals, where she played Vera Zvonareva, against whom she had won both of her previous encounters. Despite taking the first set 6–3, Li lost the second by the same scoreline; and although she was 3–2 up in the final set, she then ceded four successive games to her opponent to lose the match.

Her ranking having risen back to no. 23 on the strength of this performance, she was prevented from consolidating on this recovery by suffering a right knee injury, which forced her to pull out of her scheduled entries into both the Tier II event at Bangalore in early March and the Tier I tournament at Indian Wells in the middle of the month. She returned to action at the International Women's Open in Eastbourne, winning one round before losing to Nadia Petrova. She then contested Wimbledon, defeating Anastasia Rodionova, 3–6, 6–0, 6–1, before losing 2–6, 4–6 to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

At the Beijing Olympics, following early-round victories against world no. 3 Svetlana Kuznetsova, Ayumi Morita, and Kaia Kanepi, she went on to defeat one of the favourites, Venus Williams, in the quarterfinals. Li was trailing 1–4 in the first set, but then managed to strengthen her game to win in straight sets. Li lost her semifinal match to sixth seed Dinara Safina, 6–7, 5–7, and was then defeated in the bronze final by Vera Zvonareva. At the following US Open, Li was defeated by the Beijing Olympics gold medalist Elena Dementieva in the fourth round.

In the 2008 Porsche Grand Prix, the unseeded Li defeated no. 1 ranked Serena Williams in the second-round, 0–6, 6–1, 6–4. Li thus became only the second Chinese player to defeat a world no. 1 player, following Zheng Jie's victory over Ana Ivanović at Wimbledon in 2008.

2009[link]

Li Na at the 2009 US Open

Li withdrew from both the inaugural Brisbane International, where she was defending champion (as she won the title at Gold Coast in 2008), and the Australian Open because of a right-knee injury. She made her comeback at the Paris Open. In the first round, she beat Ágnes Szávay, 7–6, 6–2. In the second round, she lost to second-seeded Jelena Janković, 0–6, 6–3, 2–6.

In the first round of the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships, Li lost to Russian Elena Vesnina, 6–1, 4–6, 4–6.

Unseeded at the Monterrey Open, she defeated world no. 10 and top seed Agnieszka Radwańska in a first round match that lasted over two hours, 7–6, 4–6, 6–0. In the second round, she beat Petra Cetkovská, 6–3, 6–4. She advanced to the semifinals after defeating Lucie Šafářová, 6–3, 7–6. Li then moved into her fifth career tour final, after beating sixth-seeded Iveta Benešová, 6–3, 6–3. However, Li lost to second-seeded Marion Bartoli in the final in straight sets.

Li then played in the Premier event at Indian Wells, where she defeated Tamarine Tanasugarn, Patty Schnyder, and Amélie Mauresmo, all in straight sets, to advance to the fourth round, where she lost to eventual champion Vera Zvonareva, 4–6, 4–6.

She then reached the quarterfinals of the Premier event in Miami, where she beat qualifier Urszula Radwańska in the first round and upset 29th seed Aleksandra Wozniak to reach the third round, where she caused a big upset by defeating the previous week's Indian Wells champion, 6th-seeded Vera Zvonareva in three sets, 6–4, 3–6, 6–2. This victory was particularly important for Li, as she had been beaten by Zvonareva the week before at Indian Wells. She then faced unseeded Russian Ekaterina Makarova in the fourth round and beat her in three sets to set up a quarterfinal match with the top seed and world no. 1 Serena Williams, a match which she lost in a tight three-setter, 6–4, 6–7, 2–6. Because of her strong performance, her ranking went up to world no. 29 from world no. 40.

Her next event was the second Grand Slam of the year, the French Open in Paris. As the 25th seed, she won her first round 6–4, 6–2 against Polish Marta Domachowska. She then defeated Timea Bacsinszky and Olga Govortsova. She then lost to unseeded, former world no. 1 Maria Sharapova in the fourth round, 4–6, 6–0, 4–6. After this impressive result, she jumped six rankings up to no. 20.

She started her grass-court season as the fourth seed at the AEGON Classic in Birmingham. She advanced to the final with a 6–4, 6–4 win over Maria Sharapova in the semifinals. However, Na was defeated by Magdaléna Rybáriková, 0–6, 6–7, in the final.

Na was seeded 19th at the 2009 Wimbledon Championships. She defeated Galina Voskoboeva in the first round and Olga Govortsova in the second round, but lost to no. 11 Agnieszka Radwańska in the third round.

At the 2009 Bank of the West Classic, she lost to Serena Williams in the first round, and at the 2009 LA Women's Tennis Championships p/b Herbalife, she withdrew due to injury during her match with Urszula Radwańska of Poland.

Seeded 18th at the 2009 US Open, she reached her first US Open quarterfinals, where she lost to Kim Clijsters. En route to the quarterfinals, she defeated Ioana Raluca Olaru, Michelle Larcher de Brito, Maria Kirilenko, and Francesca Schiavone all in straight sets.

Seeded 15th at the Toray Pan Pacific Open, Li Na won her opening match against Alizé Cornet, 6–4, 6–0. She then defeated Vera Dushevina, 7–5, 6–0, before defeating Kateryna Bondarenko, 2–6, 7–5, 6–3. In the quarterfinal, she defeated Victoria Azarenka in three sets, 7–6, 4–6, 7–6, though she failed to serve for the match twice in the last set. Li lost in the semifinals to Jelena Janković, 4–6, 3–6.

Li finished the year at world no. 15, her career-high year-end ranking.

2010[link]

Li Na at the 2010 Stuttgart Porsche Grand Prix

Li's first tournament of 2010 was the 2010 ASB Classic in Auckland, where she was seeded second. She was defeated by Kaia Kanepi in the first round, 1–6, 3–6. In the Medibank International, she defeated fourth seed Caroline Wozniacki, 2–6, 6–3, 6–2. She lost to Flavia Pennetta in the second round, 2–6, 6–7.

Li was seeded 16th at the 2010 Australian Open. She defeated world no. 4 Caroline Wozniacki in the fourth round, 6–4, 6–3, and then came from a set and 3–5 down to defeat world no. 6 Venus Williams, 2–6, 7–6, 7–5, in her first Australian Open quarterfinal, and only her third Grand Slam quarterfinal. In the semifinals, she lost to Serena Williams, 6–7, 6–7. As a result of this performance, Li was the first Chinese woman ever to be ranked in the top 10 of women's professional tennis.

At the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships, Li, the eighth seed, defeated María José Martínez Sánchez, 7–6, 2–6, 6–4, in the second round. She then came from a 6–3 5–2 deficit to defeat Marion Bartoli in the third round, 3–6, 7–5, 6–0. Li retired in her quarterfinals match against Shahar Pe'er. Li was trailing 5–7, 0–3 when she retired. Li continued her season at the inaugural Malaysian Open. As second seed, she fell to Tatjana Malek in the first round. As seventh seed at the 2010 BNP Paribas Open, Li fell to Elena Baltacha in the second round, 6–7, 6–2, 6–7. Li was eighth seed at the 2010 Sony Ericsson Open, but fell to Timea Bacsinszky in the second round.

At the 2010 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, Li defeated defending champion Svetlana Kuznetsova in the second round, before falling to eventual runner-up Sam Stosur, 3–6, 3–6, in the quarterfinals. Li was 11th seed at the 2010 French Open. She fell to eventual champion and no. 17 Francesca Schiavone in the third round.

Li was seeded first at the 2010 AEGON Classic. She defeated fourth seed Aravane Rezaï in the semifinals, and second seed Maria Sharapova in the final to win the tournament. With the win, Li returned to the top 10 in the WTA rankings. Seeded seventh at the 2010 AEGON International, Li retired with a knee injury when she led Elena Baltacha. 7–6, in the first round.

Li was seeded ninth at Wimbledon. She defeated seventh seed Agnieszka Radwańska to advance to the quarterfinals at Wimbledon for the second time in her career, where she lost to world no. 1 and defending champion Serena Williams, 5–7, 3–6. By going into the last eight, Li once again returned to the top 10 in the WTA rankings. At the 2010 US Open, she started off as the eighth seed, but suffered an upset to Kateryna Bondarenko, 6–2, 4–6, 2–6.

At the end of the year, Li's coach Thomas Hogstedt chose to leave her in order to coach Maria Sharapova.

2011[link]

Li Na in 2011 French Open semi final

Li played in 2011 Medibank International Sydney as eighth seed, making fast work of Australian wildcard Anastasia Rodionova, 6–1, 6–2, and winning a tough three-set match against Virginie Razzano, 6–4, 1–6, 6–4, in the first two rounds. In the quarterfinals she met two-time Grand Slam winner Svetlana Kuznetsova and came through with a 3–6, 7–6, 6–0 win. She defeated surprise qualifier Bojana Jovanovski in the semifinals, 7–6, 6–3, to advance to her eighth WTA final.^[11] Li faced world no. 3 Kim Clijsters in the final, and despite trailing 5–0 in the first set, Li went on to defeat Clijsters, 7–6, 6–3.^{[citation needed]}

Li was ninth seed at the 2011 Australian Open, where she reached her first Grand Slam singles final. On her way there, she ousted the eighth seed Victoria Azarenka in straight sets, 6–3, 6–3. She then defeated world no. 1 Caroline Wozniacki in the semifinals to reach her first Grand Slam final, after saving a match point in the second set, 3–6, 7–5, 6–3. She became the first Chinese player to reach a Grand Slam singles final, facing no. 3 seed Kim Clijsters (whom she had defeated at the Medibank International). Although Li claimed the first set, Clijsters was able to rally back and claim the championship, winning 3–6, 6–3, 6–3. Despite the loss, Li's ranking rose to a career high of world no. 7.^{[citation needed]}

Despite a good early start to the season, Li then had a five-match losing streak. She lost in the first round of 2011 Dubai Tennis Championships and 2011 Qatar Ladies Open. After a receiving bye in the first round, she lost in the second round of the 2011 BNP Paribas Open. Despite this, after Indian Wells she reached a career-high ranking of world no. 6 due, to Jelena Janković's failures to defend her points.^{[citation needed]}

Li's losing streak then continued, when she was upset in the 2011 Sony Ericsson Open by Swede Johanna Larsson, 5–7, 7–6, 6–7. With this loss, and Andy Murray's loss at Miami, both Australian Open finalists had yet to win a match since the first Grand Slam. Despite Li's successive losses, her no. 6 ranking was ensured due to Samantha Stosur's inability to defend her clay-season points. After a week, she fell back to no. 7. Li then broke her losing streak by winning her first-round match against Anastasija Sevastova in Stuttgart, 6–2, 6–3. However, she subsequently lost to Sabine Lisicki in the second round, 4–6, 5–7. Even though she was not able to defend all her Stuttgart ranking points, she rose back to no. 6, with Samantha Stosur's inability to defend her own Stuttgart points. However, with her disappointing results, Li Na sacked her husband as coach and hired the Dane Michael Mortensen.^{[citation needed]}

She entered the 2011 Mutua Madrid Open as sixth seed. In the first two rounds, she defeated María José Martínez Sánchez, 6–4, 7–6, and Iveta Benešová, 6–1, 6–4. In the third round, she defeated Roberta Vinci, 2–6, 6–2, 6–1, coming back from a set deficit. She defeated Bethanie Mattek-Sands, 6–4, 3–6, 6–4, coming back from 3–4 and one break down in the deciding set. This victory marked her the first semifinals appearance in Madrid, where she eventually lost to Petra Kvitová, 3–6, 1–6.

Li's resurgence continued in 2011 Internazionali BNL d'Italia. Seeded fourth, she received a bye in the first round. She won her opening match against Lourdes Domínguez Lino, 6–4, 6–2. She defeated Jarmila Gajdošová, 6–2, 6–1, and Gréta Arn, 6–3, 6–1, in the next two rounds en route to back-to-back semifinals on clay court. However, she lost to Samantha Stosur, 7–6, 6–0.

Li won her first Grand Slam title and become the first Grand Slam singles champion born in an Asian country at the 2011 French Open on June 4th. Seeded sixth, she defeated Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová, Silvia Soler Espinosa, Sorana Cîrstea, ninth seed Petra Kvitová, fourth seed Victoria Azarenka, seventh seed Maria Sharapova, and fifth seed and defending champion Francesca Schiavone in the final.^[12] After the match, Li Na was praised by the Chinese media,^[13] and her popularity throughout China was expected to grow significantly in the following months, as she became the first Chinese singles player ever to win a tennis Grand Slam title.^[14] Following the French Open, Li reached a career high ranking of World No. 4.^[15]

As the second seed at the 2011 AEGON International, Li fell in the second round to Daniela Hantuchová.

Due to the withdrawal of Kim Clijsters, Li was the third seed at Wimbledon. She beat Alla Kudryavtseva in the first round. She lost in the second round to eventual semifinalist Sabine Lisicki of Germany, 6–3, 4–6, 6–8, even though she had two match points at 5–3 and served for the match twice at 5–4 and 6–5.^[16]

At the 2011 US Open in August, Li lost to 53rd ranked Simona Halep of Romania in the first round, 2–6, 5–7.^[17] In September, Li parted ways with coach Mortensen.^[18]

At the China Open, Li fell to Romanian player Monica Niculescu in straight sets, 4–6, 0–6. However, as a result of Vera Zvonareva and Samantha Stosur's inability to go past the third round, she was able to qualify for the 2011 WTA Tour Championships.^{[citation needed]} for the first time.

Li was placed in the White Group at the 2011 WTA Tour Championships in Istanbul, Turkey with Maria Sharapova, Victoria Azarenka and Samantha Stosur. She beat Sharapova in her opening match 7–6, 6–4, but lost the other two matches, failing to make the semifinals.

Li Na lost two awards in final round for "Annual Breakthrough Award" to Blake Griffin and "Annual Award for best female tennis players" to Serena Williams conducted and honoured by ESPY Sports Award.^[19]

2012[link]

Li started her new season in the 2012 Hopman Cup, where she won all three single rubbers against Marion Bartoli, Anabel Medina Garrigues and Jarmila Gajdosova. Her match with Marion Bartoli was a seesaw battle which saw Li come out as the winner in the final set, after recovering from a service break to close out the match 2–6 6–2 6–4. Li then faced Anabel Medina Garrigues in the next round, finally prevailing over the Spaniard with a 6–3, 6–1 win. This was Li's first win over the Spaniard in four meetings (Li lost in all three previous meetings). The Chinese player's performance in the 2012 Hopman Cup also saw her return to her lethal form after being plagued by losses and early round exits in almost all her tournaments (except New Haven, where she was able to reach the Semifinals) during the second half of 2011.

Li, seeded 4th, played in the Sydney to defend her title. She defeated Ekaterina Makarova, Chanelle Scheepers and -Lucie Šafářová to reach the semifinals. In the semifinal, she came back from one set down to defeat Petra Kvitová 1–6 7–5 6–2, the favorite to win the tournament. Had Kvitova won, she would have toppled Caroline Wozniacki and replaced her as the new world no. 1. In the final, Li failed to defend her title, losing the match to Victoria Azarenka 6–2 1–6 6–3.

Li began her Australian Open campaign by cruising through the early rounds of the tournament, handily defeating Ksenia Pervak 6–3, 6–1, Olivia Rogowska 6–2, 6–2 and Anabel Medina Garrigues 3–0 (after Garrigues retired due to an injured ankle sustained during the match), en route to meeting her 2011 Australian Open conqueror Kim Clijsters in the 4th round. After Clijsters rolled her ankle at 3–3, Li took the first set 6–4. Li held four match points at 6–2 in the second set tiebreak, but dropped six consecutive points to give Clijsters the second set. At 1–5 in the final set, Li began a resurgence and was able to close the gap to 4–5, but the Belgian managed to close out the match 6–4, 6–7, 4–6.

After the disappointing turnout of her Australian Open campaign, Li participated in the 2012 Fed Cup and won all three of her matches on home soil. She defeated Kei-Chen Chang and Nigina Abduraimova during the round robin stages to push China to the promotional play-offs against Kasakhstan. She next played Galina Voskoboeva, who proved a little tougher to crack but eventually surrendered to the French Open champion with a 6–1, 3–6, 6–1 scoreline. This win sealed the tie and secured China's spot in the World Group II play-offs.

Li then flew to Paris to contest the Open GDF Suez trophy in the indoor carpeted courts of the French capital, but retired against Tsvetana Pironkova in the first round of the tournament trailing 7–6(5), 3–2 due to a back injury she sustained during her Fed Cup matches.

The next tournament that Li Na played was the 2012 BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Li got a 1st round bye and faced a rematch with Galina Voskoboeva in the second round, where the Chinese again emerged victorious in three sets (6–3, 3–6, 6–3). Li then faced countrywoman Zheng Jie where she has not had any wins in five career meetings. Li changed that record scoring her first win over Zheng with a convincing 6–1, 6–3 win. Next came Klara Zakopalova who was on a roll, upsetting Vera Zvonareva and Daniela Hantuchova on route meeting with Li in the fourth round. The Chinese comfortably brushed aside Zakopalova's challenge with a 6–1, 6–0 win, booking a place in the quarterfinals where she faced Angelique Kerber of Germany but lost 4–6, 2–6.

In the Sony Ericsson Miami Open 2012, Li Na, after a fist round bye, rolled past Melinda Czink (7–5, 6–2), Iveta Benesova (7–5, 6–2) and Sabine Lisicki (3–6, 6–4, 6–2) to secure a slot in the quarterfinals. Li's win over Lisicki avenged her bitter loss to the big serving German in the previous year's second round of the Wimbledon Championships. She then faced world no. 2 Maria Sharapova in the quarterfinals and lost 3–6, 0–6. This marked the first time Li lost to Sharapova in their last four consecutive meetings, where the Chinese beat the Russian all in straight sets.

Li Na lost to Maria Sharapova in the finals of the Italian Open 2012, by 4-6 6-4 7-6 (7-5).^[20]

Grand Slam finals[link]

Singles: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up)[link]

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score
Runner-up	2011	Australian Open	Hard	Kim Clijsters	6–3, 3–6, 3–6
Winner	2011	French Open	Clay	Francesca Schiavone	6–4, 7–6(7–0)

Career statistics[link]

See also[link]

	China portal
	Biography portal
	Tennis portal

• Tennis in China
• List of female tennis players

Notes[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Li Na

• Li Na at the Women's Tennis Association
• Li Na (tennis) at the International Tennis Federation
• Li Na at Sina Weibo

v t e Women's Tennis Association: Top ten Chinese female tennis players as of May 21, 2012. 1. Li Na (7 2 ) 2. Peng Shuai (30 7) 3. Zheng Jie (33 ) 4. Zhang Shuai (167 4) 5. Zheng Saisai (201 41) 6. Wang Qiang (220 4) 7. Xu Yifan (256 4) 8. Zhao Yijing (259 ) 9. Hu Yueyue (274 7) 10. Han Xinyun (314 3)

Maria Sharapova

Country	Russia
Residence	Bradenton, Florida, United States
Born	(1987-04-19) April 19, 1987 (age 25) Nyagan, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Height	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)[1]
Weight	59 kilograms (130 lb)[1]
Turned pro	April 19, 2001
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Career prize money	$ 19,323,417[2]
Singles
Career record	441–109
Career titles	26 WTA, 4 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 1 (August 30, 2005)
Current ranking	No. 2 (May 28, 2012)[3]
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open	W (2008)
French Open	SF (2007, 2011)
Wimbledon	W (2004)
US Open	W (2006)
Other tournaments
Championships	W (2004)
Doubles
Career record	23–17
Career titles	3 WTA
Highest ranking	41 (January 30, 2012)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open	2R (2003, 2004)
US Open	2R (2003)
Last updated on: May 28, 2012.

Maria Yuryevna Sharapova (Russian: Мария Юрьевна Шарапова [mɐˈrʲijə ˈjurʲjɪvnə ʂɐˈrapəvə] ( listen), US: /ʃɑrəˈpoʊvə/, UK: /ʃærəˈpoʊvə/; born April 19, 1987) is a Russian professional tennis player and former world no. 1. A United States resident since 1994,^[4] Sharapova has won 26 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 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 the ranking for the fourth time on May 19, 2008. As of May 28, 2012, Sharapova is ranked world no. 2. She has been in six Grand Slam finals with the final record 3–3.

Sharapova made her professional breakthrough in 2004 at age 17, when 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 the 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 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, requiring surgery in October and forcing her out of the game for 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 seven singles titles (bringing her career total to 26) and improved her ranking to no. 2 in the world.

Sharapova 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 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 2005 and 2008.^[5][6][7] 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.^[8]

Early life[link]

Maria Sharapova's parents, Yuri and Elena, are from Gomel, Belarus. Concerned about the regional effects of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear accident, they left their homeland shortly before Sharapova was born.^[9] When Sharapova was two, the family moved to Sochi. There her father befriended Aleksandr Kafelnikov, whose son Yevgeny would go on to win two Grand Slam singles titles and became Russia's first no. 1 world-ranked 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.^[10] She took her first tennis lessons with veteran Russian coach Yuri Yutkin, who was instantly impressed when he saw her play, noting her "exceptional hand-eye coordination."^[11]

At the age of seven, Sharapova attended a tennis clinic in Moscow run by Martina Navratilova, 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.^[10] 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.^[11] Visa restrictions prevented Sharapova's mother from joining them for two years.^[9] Arriving in Florida with savings of US$700,^[11] 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.^[10]

Tennis career[link]

2001–03[link]

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.^[12] She was then given a special award, the Rising Star Award, which is awarded only to players of exceptional promise.^[13] She made her professional debut in 2001 on her birthday on April 19, and played her first WTA tournament at the Pacific Life Open in 2002, winning a match before losing to Monica Seles. 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.^[14]

From 2003, Sharapova played a full season, and made a rapid climb into the top 50 by the end of the year.^[15] She made her debuts at both the Australian Open and the French Open, but failed to win a match in either.^[16] 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.^[16]

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.

2004[link]

Sharapova was defeated in the third round of the Australian Open by seventh seed Anastasia Myskina.^[17] 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 eventual champion Vera Zvonareva.^[17]

Sharapova on her way to winning the 2004 Wimbledon Championships

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^[17] and the Internazionali BNL d'Italia, both of which were Tier I events.^[17] 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 and 2004 French Open finalist 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.^[17] 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",^[18] with other writers commenting on her arrival as a serious challenger to the Williams' dominance at Wimbledon.^[19] She entered the top 10 in the rankings for the first time as a result of the win.^[17]

Following her Wimbledon win, attention and interest in Sharapova in the media greatly increased, a rise in popularity dubbed as "Maria Mania."^[20] 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.^[17]

World No 1[link]

Sharapova at Indian Wells in 2005

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.^[21] In February, Sharapova won back-to-back tournaments, the Toray Pan Pacific Open and the Qatar Total Open,^[21] 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.^[21][22] 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.^[21]

Sharapova made the semifinals of a clay-court tournament for the first time at the Italian Open, where she lost to Patty Schnyder.^[21] Sharapova would have become world no. 1 for the first time had she won the tournament.^[23] Sharapova then reached the quarterfinals of the French Open for the second consecutive year, before losing to eventual champion Henin.^[21] 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.^[21]

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.^[24] Her reign lasted only one week, however, as Davenport reclaimed the top ranking after winning the Pilot Pen Tennis tournament.^[24]

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.^[24] To conclude the year, Sharapova failed to defend her title at the year-end Sony Ericsson Championships in Los Angeles, defeating Davenport in one of her round-robin matches, but ultimately losing in the semifinals to eventual champion Amélie Mauresmo.^[21]

2006[link]

Sharapova celebrating after winning the 2006 US Open

Sharapova started 2006 by losing in the semifinals of the Australian Open in three sets to Henin,^[25] 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.^[25] 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.^[25] The following fortnight, she reached the final in Miami before losing to Kuznetsova.^[25]

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.^[25]

On grass, Sharapova was unsuccessful in her attempt to win in Birmingham for the third consecutive year, losing in the semifinals to Jamea Jackson.^[25] Despite that, she was among the title favorites at Wimbledon, where the eventual champion Mauresmo ended up beating her in the semifinals.^[25]

Sharapova claimed her second title of the year at the Tier I Acura Classic, defeating Clijsters for the first time in the final.^[25] 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^[25] in order to win her second Grand Slam singles title.^[25]

That autumn, Sharapova won titles in back-to-back weeks at the Zurich Open and the Generali Ladies Linz.^[25] 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.^[25] 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 year-end finish yet.

2007[link]

Sharapova at the 2007 Australian Open

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.^[26] After reaching the final, Sharapova recaptured the world no. 1 ranking.^[24] 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.^[26] 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.^[26]

On grass, Sharapova was runner-up to Jelena Janković at the DFS Classic.^[26] Following that, she experienced her earliest Wimbledon loss since 2003 by losing in the fourth round to eventual champion Venus Williams.^[26]

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.^[24] In her US Open title defense, Sharapova was upset in her third round match to 30th seed Agnieszka Radwańska,^[27] making it her earliest exit at a Grand Slam singles tournament since the 2004 US Open, where she lost in the same round.^[24]

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.^[26] 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 due to a withdrawal by Venus Williams before the start of the tournament.^[24] 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, Ana Ivanović, and Daniela Hantuchová. She then defeated Anna Chakvetadze in the semifinals.^[26] In the final, she lost to world no. 1 Henin in a match that lasted 3 hours and 24 minutes. Sharapova reached the top five again to end the year.

===2008=== Shoulder Injury Sharapova was seeded fifth at the Australian Open,^[28] 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,^[29] ending the latter's 32-match winning streak.^[30] She proceeded to the finals by defeating Jelena Janković in the semifinals, where she defeated Ana Ivanović to win her third Grand Slam title,^[31] having not dropped a set all tournament.

Sharapova playing at the Pacific Life Open in 2008

After the Australian Open, Sharapova extended her winning streak to 18 matches.^[31] This run encompassed two wins in singles rubbers when making her debut for Russia in the Fed Cup^[32] against Israel^[31] and victory at the Tier I Qatar Total Open.^[31] Her winning streak was ended in the semifinals of the Pacific Life Open by Kuznetsova.^[31] 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.^[33][34] The following week, at the Family Circle Cup, she lost in the quarterfinals to Serena Williams, her fourth consecutive loss to the American.^[35]

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.^[36] As the top-seeded player at the French Open^[31] Sharapova was within two points^[37] of being knocked out by Evgeniya Rodina in the first round, before eventually winning.^[38] As a result of losing to eventual finalist Dinara Safina in the fourth round (after serving for the match),^[39] she relinquished her no. 1 ranking.^[40] Her dip in form continued at Wimbledon, where she lost in the second round to world no. 154 Alla Kudryavtseva.^[31] This was her earliest loss ever at Wimbledon, and at any Grand Slam in almost five years.^[41]

Sharapova withdrew from the Rogers Cup tournament in August due to a shoulder injury.^[42][43] 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.^[44] In October, after a failed attempt to rehabilitate the shoulder, Sharapova had surgery to repair the tear.

2009[link]

Sharapova made the quarterfinals of the French Open, her best Grand Slam performance of 2009

Sharapova did not attempt to defend her Australian Open title, as she continued to recover from surgery.^[45][46] 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, losing to finalist 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, Sharapova played 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. At the 2009 US Open, Sharapova was seeded 29th. She entered her way into the third round defeating Tsvetana Pironkova and Christina McHale all in straight sets. She was stunned in the third round by American teenager Melanie Oudin 3–6, 6–4, 7–5. It was the first time in Sharapova's career that she lost to a teenager at a Grand Slam event. The devastating loss made Sharapova's ranking go down to no. 32.

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 capitalize on it, losing to Peng Shuai in the third round. She ultimately finished the season at world no. 14, having improved from no. 126 when she starting her comeback from injury.

2010[link]

Sharapova practicing at the Bank of the West Classic in 2010

After playing two exhibition tournaments in Asia, Sharapova officially began her season at the Australian Open, 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.^[47] She then rebounded by winning a smaller American event, the Cellular South Cup, her 21st career WTA title and first of the year.^[48]

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^[49] and the Family Circle Cup.^[50]

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.^[51] 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, 4–6, despite having three set points in the opening set.^[52] 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,^[53] and Sharapova herself that stating she felt that she was "in a much better spot than I was last year."^[54]

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 and 2009 finalist 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 former world no. 4 Kimiko Date-Krumm.^[55] Her last tournament of the year was the China Open, where she lost in the second round to fellow Russian Elena Vesnina.^[56] Days later, she announced the end of her 2010 season.^[57] She ended the year at number 18 in the world.^[58]

Back to Form[link]

It was announced that Sharapova would bring in Thomas Hogstedt as a coach for the 2011 season, joining Michael Joyce.^[59] On December 5, Sharapova played an exhibition match against world no. 2 Vera Zvonareva in Monterrey, Mexico. She won the match 6–1, 7–5.^[60] It was also announced that Maria would start endorsing the Head YOUTEK IG Instinct Racquet range. This ended her career long use of Prince racquets.

In Sharapova's first ever official Australian Open warm-up tournament at the 2011 ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand, she was seeded 1st. She lost to the Hungarian veteran and eventual champion Gréta Arn 2–6, 5–7 in the quarterfinals. 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.^[61]

Sharapova participated in the first Grand Slam of the season at the Australian Open, where she was the 14th seed, but lost to Andrea Petkovic, 2–6, 3–6 in the fourth round.^[62]

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.^[63] 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 2011 BNP Paribas Open, where she was seeded 16th. She defeated former world No. 1 Dinara Safina, 6–2, 6–0, in the fourth round en route to the semifinal, where she lost 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.

At the 2011 Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Sharapova upset fourth seed Samantha Stosur in the fourth round. She then defeated 26th seed Alexandra Dulgheru 3–6, 7–6⁶, 7–6⁵ in the quarterfinals in a match that lasted 3 hours and 28 minutes, the longest match of her career. In the semifinals, Sharapova took her Australian Open reprisal on Germany's Andrea Petkovic by defeating her 3–6, 6–0, 6–2. In the final, she was defeated by Victoria Azarenka, 1–6, 4–6, despite a late comeback in the second set.

During the clay-court season, Sharapova participated in 2011 Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open, where she lost to Dominika Cibulková 5–7, 4–6, in the third round and the 2011 Internazionali BNL d'Italia, where she was seeded seventh. She defeated top seed Caroline Wozniacki in the semifinals and sixth seed Samantha Stosur, 6–2, 6–4, in the final to take home the title, marking her biggest clay-court victory to date.^[64]

Sharapova at 2011 Roland Garros

At the 2011 French Open, Sharapova was seeded seventh. She defeated French wildcard Caroline Garcia in the second round, despite trailing 3–6, 1–4, before winning the last 11 games of the match. In the quarterfinals, she defeated 15th seed Andrea Petkovic, 6–0, 6–3, marking her first Grand Slam semifinal since her comeback from the career-threatening shoulder injury. She then lost to sixth seed and eventual champion Li Na, 4–6, 5–7, in the semifinals, ending her clay season with a win-loss record of 12–2.^[65] This marks her most successful clay season to date.

At the 2011 Wimbledon Championships, Sharapova had not dropped a set entering the final, before losing to eighth seed Petra Kvitová in straight sets, 3–6, 4–6.^[66] This marked her first final in over three years at a Grand Slam event.

Sharapova started her summer hard court season at the 2011 Bank of the West Classic in Stanford, USA. In a highly anticipated match, Sharapova lost to the eventual champion Serena Williams 1–6, 3–6, in the quarterfinals.^[67] In her next event at 2011 Rogers Cup in Toronto, Canada, Sharapova lost to Galina Voskoboeva in the third round, marking her 100th career loss.^[68]

Sharapova then contested at the 2011 Western & Southern Open 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,^[69] 14th seed Svetlana Kuznetsova 6–2, 6–3,^[70] 10th seed Samantha Stosur, 6–3, 6–2,^[71] and 2nd seed Vera Zvonareva 2–6, 6–3, 6–3.^[72] In the final, she defeated fellow former world no. 1 Jelena Jankovic, 4–6, 7–6, 6–3, in 2 hours and 49 minutes, making it the longest WTA tour final of the year.^[73] She subsequently moved up to world no. 4, her highest ranking since August 2008 and the highest since her comeback from her shoulder injury.^[74]

Sharapova entered the US Open in fine form, 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, 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.^[75]

Sharapova's next tournament was the 2011 Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, Japan. As 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, 7–6, before retiring against Petra Kvitova in the quarterfinal, 3–4, after slipping on the baseline, suffering an ankle injury. This also forced her to withdraw from the 2011 China Open the following week. Sharapova then flew to Istanbul to prepare for the 2011 WTA Tour Championships, her first time qualifying since 2007. During the WTA Tour Championships, Sharapova withdrew during the round-robin stage after defeats against Samantha Stosur, 1–6, 5–7, and Li Na, 6–7, 4–6, due to the ankle injury she had suffered in Tokyo.

Sharapova ended the year as number 4 in the world, her first top-10 finish since 2008 and first top-5 finish since 2007.

2012[link]

Maria Sharapova at 2012 Sony Ericsson Open

Sharapova withdrew from the 2012 Brisbane International because of her ongoing ankle injury.^[76] Her first tournament of the season was the 2012 Australian Open, where she was seeded fourth. Sharapova advanced to the fourth round conceding just five games, defeating Gisela Dulko, Jamie Hampton and the 30th seed Angelique Kerber en route. In the fourth round, Sharapova defeated the fourteenth seed, Sabine Lisicki in three sets, 3–6, 6–2, 6–3 to reach her first hardcourt Grand Slam quarterfinal in 4 years. She then defeated compatriot, Ekaterina Makarova in straight sets, 6–2, 6–3 to reach the semifinals. There she defeated the world no. 2 Petra Kvitová, 6–2, 3–6, 6–4 to reach her third Australian Open final, and her sixth grand slam singles final overall. She lost to Victoria Azarenka in the final 3–6, 0–6. As a result her ranking improved to world no. 3.

In February, Sharapova aided Russia to a 3–2 victory over Spain during the 2012 Fed Cup quarterfinal with a 6–2, 6–1 win over Silvia Soler-Espinosa.^[77] She then played in Paris, where she lost in the quarterfinal to eventual champion Angelique Kerber 4–6, 4–6. As a result her ranking improved to World No. 2. At Indian Wells, Sharapova faced Gisela Dulko in the first round and won 6–2, 6–0. Sharapova defeated Simona Halep and Roberta Vinci en route to reaching the quarterfinals. After battling for over 3 hours, she defeated compatriot Maria Kirilenko 3–6 7–5 6–2, to set up a semifinal meeting with Ana Ivanovic. Sharapova won the first set 6–4 and advanced to the final after Ivanovic retired due to a hip injury. In the final she played world no. 1 Victoria Azarenka in a rematch of the Australian Open final, but lost again 2–6, 3–6.

Sharapova's next tournament was the 2012 Sony Ericsson Open, where she was seeded 2nd. She received a bye to the second round where she faced Shahar Peer and won in three sets 4–6, 6–3, 6–3. Her next opponent was Sloane Stephens. Sharapova won in straight sets 6–4, 6–2. In the fourth round she won in straight sets, 6–4, 7–6 against countrywoman Ekaterina Makarova and advanced to the quarterfinals where she faced Li Na, whom she beat 6–3, 6–0. Her semifinal opponent was fellow former world no. 1 Caroline Wozniacki. After an inconsistent first set, Sharapova won the match 4–6, 6–2, 6–4. In the final, Maria lost in straight sets to 5th seeded Agnieszka Radwanska 7–5, 6–4. This was her third loss of the year in finals out of four tournaments played so far. Sharapova's next tournament was the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, where she was seeded second. She had a bye in the first round, and advanced to the third round after Alize Cornet retired in the second set. In the quarterfinal, she defeated No. 5 Samantha Stosur 6–7⁵, 7–6⁵, 7–5 after saving a match point in the second set, and advanced to the final with a 6–4, 7–6³ win over No. 3 Petra Kvitova. She won her first title of the year in Stuttgart after defeating world number one Victoria Azarenka 6–1, 6–4. In doing so, Sharapova defeated three current Grand Slam title holders to win the tournament. It was also her first win against Azarenka in five finals, and the third of such this season.

Sharapova's next tournament was a premier mandatory event, the 2012 Mutua Madrid Open. She eased through the first round in straight sets against Irina-Camelia Begu 6–0, 6–3. In the next round she faced Klara Zakopalova and also won in straight sets with 6–4, 6–3. In the third round Sharapova's opponent Lucie Safarova was unable to compete and with drew from the tournament, earning Sharapova a walkover into the quarter finals. She was then beaten by eventual champion Serena Williams in straight sets 6–1, 6–3.

As the defending champion and number two seed at the Italian Open, Sharapova had a bye in the first round. She battled through the first round against 20 year-old Christina McHale and prevailed 7–5, 7–5. She then faced thirteenth seed Ana Ivanovic and won 7–6⁴, 6–3 in 1 hour 47 minutes to advance to the quarterfinals. Sharapova then defeated former world no. 1 Venus Williams 6–4, 6–3, meaning that Sharapova has reached the quarterfinals or better in all nine tournaments she has played this year. In the semifinals, Sharapova avenged her defeat to Angelique Kerber in Paris earlier in the year by beating her 6–3, 6–4 to advance to the final for the second year in a row. In the final, Maria saved match point for a 2 hour 52 minute, 4–6, 6–4, 7–6(5) win over Li Na for her 26th career title.^[78] This marked the fourth time Sharapova had successfully defended a title.

Sharapova's currently in action at the French Open, where she is seeded 2nd. She moved through to the second round by defeating Alexandra Cadantu 6-0, 6-0 in 48 minutes. She defeated Ayumi Morita 6-1, 6-1 to reach the third round, where she will face Peng Shuai.

Fed Cup participation[link]

Sharapova playing for the Russian Fed Cup team against Israel in 2008.

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.^[79] 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."^[80]

Sharapova playing for the Russian Fed Cup team

At the end of 2005, Sharapova stated she was now keen to make her Fed Cup debut^[81] and was set to play against Belgium in April 2006, but withdrew.^[82] She later withdrew from ties against Spain in April 2007^[83] and against the United States in July 2007 because of injuries.^[84] The latter withdrawal led to Russia's captain saying she would be "ineligible for selection" for the Fed Cup final in September.^[85] 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?"^[86]

Sharapova finally made her Fed Cup debut in February 2008, in Russia's quarterfinal tie against Israel.^[32] She won both her singles rubbers, against Tzipora Obziler and Shahar Pe'er, helping Russia to a 4–1 victory.^[87] For the semifinals, she was given permission to skip the tie, with Tarpishchev announcing that she will be on the team for the final.^[88] However, the date of the final coincided with the lay-off from her shoulder injury, and thus she did not play.^[89]

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. Maria continued to participate in 2012 and helped Russia to a 3–2 win against Spain in the first round tie. Sharapova defeated Silver Soler Espinosa in the first rubber, but was unable o play her second rubber due to illness.

Playing style[link]

Sharapova is an aggressive baseliner, with power, depth, and angles on her forehand and backhand.^[90] She is one of the few players on the WTA who uses the reverse forehand a lot. Instead of using a traditional volley or overhead smash, she often prefers to hit a powerful "swinging" volley when approaching the net or attacking lobs.^[91] Sharapova is thought to have good speed around the court, especially considering her height.^[90] 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.^[92][93] 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."^[94] Sharapova is known for on-court "grunting", which reached a recorded 101 decibels during a match at Wimbledon in 2005.^[95] 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."^[96] Monica Seles suggested that grunting is involuntary and a part of tennis.^[97] When questioned by the media about her grunting, Sharapova urged the media to "just watch the match."^[98] 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[link]

Sharapova at The Championships, Wimbledon in 2009.

Early in her career Sharapova's first and second serves were regarded as powerful,^[90] and she was believed to possess one of the best deliveries on the Tour.^[99] Since the beginning of 2007, however, problems with her shoulder have reduced the effectiveness of her serve.^[99] The shoulder injury not only resulted in her inconsistent first serves, but also her hitting high numbers of double faults.^[100] 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,^[101] 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."^[99]

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.^[102]

However since her shoulder operation Sharapova has been unable to control her serve. This has led to numerous faults, as she can't feel how much power she is generating.^[103] The new action led to an elbow injury, but under Thomas Hogstedt it has improved but can still be erratic.^[104]

Surfaces[link]

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 Open 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,^[105] 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. Sharapova is still showing rapid improvement on clay courts as evident by winning the 2012 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart and then a month later being able to successfully defend her 2011 title in Rome, by winning the 2012 Internazionali BNL d'Italia, these results are making Sharapova an obvious favourite for the 2012 French Open.

Ground strokes and net-play[link]

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 Davenport 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^[who?] 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[link]

Sharapova with children in Gomel, an area affected by the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986.

Sharapova has lived in the United States since moving there at the age of seven. She has a residence in Manhattan Beach, California and in Netanya, Israel.^[106][107] Sharapova is engaged to Slovenian professional basketball player Sasha Vujačić, who plays for the Anadolu Efes S.K. in Istanbul, Turkey.^[108][109] The two have been dating since 2009.^[110] In 2011, Sharapova was named in Forbes Celebrity 100. This lists her as one of the top 100 most powerful celebrities of the year.^[111] Sharapova has made varying remarks on how long she intends to maintain her tennis career. Following the retirement of 25-year-old Justine Henin in 2008, Sharapova said, "If I was 25 and I'd won so many Grand Slams, I'd quit too."^[112] 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.^[113] However in an interview before her 2012 Australian Open semifinal, Sharapova changed her stance, claiming she intended to continue playing tennis for as long as she enjoyed playing the game. Sharapova stated "I'm sure when I was 17 years old and someone said, you'll be playing for another eight years, it would be like, you're not going to see me at a press conference at 25 years old. But years go on. I missed a year in my career—I didn't play that year. I've said this, just before the tournament, a few weeks before, I woke up and I was just so happy to be going back on the court. I felt so fresh, full of energy, just with a really good perspective. Times change, obviously. I see myself playing this sport for many more years because it's something that gives me the most pleasure in my life. I think it helps when you know you're good at something, and you can always improve it. It obviously helps with the encouragement."^[114]

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.^[115] In 2005, she donated around US$50,000 to those affected by the crisis.^[24] 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,^[116] though it didn't happen as she had to travel back to the US because of shoulder injury.^[117] She fulfilled the trip in late June – early July 2010. Sharapova has helped to promote the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.^[118] 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.^[119] 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.^[120]

Endorsements[link]

Maria Sharapova unveiling the Canon PowerShot Diamond lineup of digital cameras.

Sharapova's tennis success and appearance have enabled her to secure commercial endorsements that greatly exceed the value of her tournament winnings.^[121][122] In March 2006, Forbes magazine listed her as the highest-paid female athlete in the world, with annual earnings of over US $18 million,^[123] the majority of which was from endorsements and sponsorships. She has topped that list every year since, even after her 2007 shoulder injury.^{[124][125][126]} In April 2005, People named her one of the 50 most beautiful celebrities in the world.^[127] 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.^[128] In a poll run by Britain's FHM magazine, she was voted the seventh most eligible bachelorette,^[129] based on both "wealth and looks."

Immediately after her win at the 2004 Wimbledon Championship, mobile phone company Motorola signed Sharapova to endorse their mobile phone line.^[130] Additionally, she appeared in commercials for Land Rover and Canon, as well as approved of namesake items by watch brand Tag Heuer and jeweller Tiffany.^[130] Tiffany also provides Sharapova with earrings from the "Tiffany for Maria Sharapova" collection at the four major events, that are also retailed globally.^[131] She also starred in an award winning campaign for the sports clothing brand Nike, "Pretty", in the summer of 2006. She signed a sponsorship deal in January 2007 with Gatorade and Tropicana.^[132] In 2007, Sharapova was featured in a number of Canon USA's commercials for the PowerShot.^[133] Sharapova has also been depicted in many tennis-related video games. Some of the titles include the Top Spin series, Virtua Tennis series, and Grand Slam Tennis series. During the layoff due to her shoulder surgery, sensing the fleeting nature of a professional athlete's career, Sharapova decided to focus on developing her name as a brand, beginning with meeting with her sponsors more extensively to further her brand.^[130] 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.^[134]

Following in the footsteps of tennis players who started clothing lines such as Fred Perry and René Lacoste, Sharapova launched her own tennis apparel line, the "Nike Maria Sharapova Collection", in 2010. The collection includes dresses that she designed for all the major tournaments, in collaboration with Nike and Cole Haan.^[135] She had previously found that the outfits given to her by Nike did not suit her frame and were worn by too many other players.^[130] She comes up with design ideas and sketches in a process that begins 18 months before the event^[135] and receives royalties from the sale of the collection, of which the corresponding dresses are coordinated to be available simultaneously with the corresponding major tournament.^[130] The collection is worn by other WTA players, including Sofia Arvidsson, Kai-Chen Chang, Andrea Hlavackova, Madison Keys, Anastasia Pivovarova as well as junior players such as Indy De Vroome.^[135] Sharapova had earlier collaborated with Nike on the "little black dress" that she wore for her night matches at the 2006 US Open.^[130] The dress featured a round crystal studded collar and was inspired by Audrey Hepburn^[130] The dress was well publicized and received but was not mass produced.^{[130][135][136]} Additionally, she designs shoes and handbags for Cole Haan, for which her signature ballerina flats are one of the biggest sellers of the entire brand.^[130]

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.^{[citation needed]} She then switched to the Prince O3 White racquet in January 2006. She switched to the Prince O3 Speedport Black in July 2008.^[137][138] After being with Prince for ten years,^[139] Sharapova began endorsing Head racquets in 2011 and uses the Head YOUTEK IG Instinct.^[140][141]

Career statistics and awards[link]

Grand Slam Finals[link]

Singles: 6 (3–3)[link]

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score
Winner	2004	Wimbledon	Grass	Serena Williams	6–1, 6–4
Winner	2006	US Open	Hard	Justine Henin	6–4, 6–4
Runner-up	2007	Australian Open	Hard	Serena Williams	1–6, 2–6
Winner	2008	Australian Open	Hard	Ana Ivanović	7–5, 6–3
Runner-up	2011	Wimbledon	Grass	Petra Kvitová	3–6, 4–6
Runner-up	2012	Australian Open	Hard	Victoria Azarenka	3–6, 0–6

Single's timeline[link]

Awards[link]

References[link]