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.