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- published: 14 Aug 2013
- views: 11323
- author: MrPieroTW
Stephens is a surname. It is a patronymic and is recorded in England from 1086.[1]
Notable people with the surname include:
This page or section lists people with the surname Stephens. If an internal link intending to refer to a specific person led you to this page, you may wish to change that link by adding the person's given name(s) to the link. |
Country | Russia |
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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]
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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]
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.
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]
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]
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]
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.
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.
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.
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.
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]
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]
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.
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.
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]
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.
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.
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]
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.
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.
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]
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]
Outcome | Year | Championship | Surface | Opponent | Score |
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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 |
Tournament | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | SR | W–L | Win % |
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Grand Slam Tournaments | |||||||||||||||
Australian Open | A | A | 1R | 3R | SF | SF | F | W | A | 1R | 4R | F | 1 / 8 | 34–8 | 81% |
French Open | A | A | 1R | QF | QF | 4R | SF | 4R | QF | 3R | SF | 0 / 9 | 30–9 | 77% | |
Wimbledon | A | A | 4R | W | SF | SF | 4R | 2R | 2R | 4R | F | 1 / 9 | 34–8 | 81% | |
US Open | A | A | 2R | 3R | SF | W | 3R | A | 3R | 4R | 3R | 1 / 8 | 24–7 | 77% | |
Win–Loss | 0–0 | 0–0 | 4–4 | 15–3 | 19–4 | 20–3 | 16–4 | 11–2 | 7–3 | 8–4 | 16–4 | 6–1 | 3 / 34 | 122–32 | 79% |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Maria Sharapova |
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Persondata | |
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Name | Sharapova, Maria Yuryevna |
Alternative names | Шара́пова; Мари́я Ю́рьевна |
Short description | Russian tennis player |
Date of birth | April 19, 1987 |
Place of birth | Nyagan', Siberia, Russia |
Date of death | |
Place of death |
Stephens in 2011 |
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Country | United States[1] |
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Residence | Fort Lauderdale, Florida[1] |
Born | (1993-03-20) March 20, 1993 (age 19)[1] Fort Lauderdale, Florida[1] |
Height | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)[1] |
Turned pro | 2009 |
Retired | Active |
Plays | Right-handed (two-handed backhand)[1] |
Career prize money | US $339,873 |
Singles | |
Career record | 77–57 |
Career titles | 1 ITF |
Highest ranking | No. 70 (May 28, 2012) |
Current ranking | No. 70 (May 28, 2012) |
Grand Slam Singles results | |
Australian Open | 2R (2012) |
French Open | 4R (2012) |
Wimbledon | Q2 (2011) |
US Open | 3R (2011) |
Doubles | |
Career record | 25–23 |
Career titles | 1 ITF |
Highest ranking | No. 94 (October 24, 2011) |
Current ranking | No. 96 (January 30, 2012) |
Last updated on: January 30, 2012. |
Sloane Stephens (born March 20, 1993) is an American professional tennis player.
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Stephens was born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida to Sybil Smith (who, in 1988 as a swimmer at Boston University, became the first African-American female to be named First Team All-American in Division I history) and John Stephens, a professional American football player.[2] Stephens had no connection with her father until she was 13, when she began a close over-the-phone friendship with him.[2] John Stephens was killed in a car accident on September 1, 2009, just before the start of the US Open. Stephens attended her father's funeral in Louisiana, but remained entered in the US Open.
She has cited Venus Williams, Serena Williams, and Kim Clijsters as her inspirations in tennis.[citation needed]
Stephens had a breakthrough year in 2008, when she finished the US Open Junior doubles as runner-up alongside partner Mallory Burdette.[3] Later at the Grade A Orange Bowl, she made it to the semifinals as a wildcard, before losing in three sets to compatriot Christina McHale.
Stephens continued her good form in 2009, capturing the singles and doubles titles at Grade 1 USTA International Spring Championships (partnering with Mallory Burdette). Stephens then traveled to Italy, where she captured the Grade A Italian Open singles title. The following week, Stephens participated in her first overseas junior Grand Slam, the French Open. As a qualifier, Stephens reached the semifinals, before losing 5–7, 3–6 to eventual champion Kristina Mladenovic.
The following month, Stephens reached the quarterfinals at the junior Wimbledon, before losing again to Mladenovic. Stephens reached a career high junior ranking of world no. 5 on August 10, 2009.
Seeded fourth at the junior US Open, Stephens lost in three sets to 14th seed Jana Čepelová in the first round.
At the 2010 Junior Wimbledon Championship, Sloane made it to the quarterfinals of the singles and won the doubles title with Tímea Babos, winning a tough three-setter in the final, 6–7, 6–2, 6–2.
Outcome | Year | Tournament | Surface | Partner | Opponent | Score |
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Runner-Up | 2008 | US Open | Hard | Mallory Burdette | Noppawan Lertcheewakarn Sandra Roma |
0–6, 2–6 |
Winner | 2010 | French Open | Clay | Tímea Babos | Lara Arruabarrena-Vecino María-Teresa Torró-Flor |
6–2, 6–3 |
Winner | 2010 | Wimbledon | Grass | Tímea Babos | Irina Khromacheva Elina Svitolina |
6–7(7–9), 6–2, 6–2 |
Winner | 2010 | US Open | Hard | Tímea Babos | An-Sophie Mestach Silvia Njirić |
W/O |
Stephens played her first professional events on the ITF Circuit in late 2007. In spring 2008, Stephens received a wildcard into her first WTA event, the Sony, but lost to Ekaterina Bychkova in the first round. During the summer, Stephens won a small ITF doubles tournament with partner Christina McHale. She received a wildcard into the US Open qualifying rounds where she defeated seventh seeded Melinda Czink. Stephens then lost in straight sets to Stefanie Vögele.
In 2009, Stephens began the year playing several ITF tournaments with moderate success. She received another qualifying wildcard into the Sony Ericsson Open, losing in the first round to Akgul Amanmuradova. In the summer, Stephens received another qualifying wildcard into a WTA tournament: the LA Women's Tennis Championships.[4] There, Stephens won her first WTA match against Lenka Wienerová, but fell in the second round of qualifying to Anastasia Rodionova.
During the summer, Stephens played World Team Tennis for the New York Buzz.[5] Stephens' last professional tournament of the 2009 season was the US Open, where she received a qualifying wildcard for the second year in a row. Stephens lost in the first round of qualifying. In October, Stephens turned professional when she signed with BEST.[6]
Stephens successfully qualified for the 2010 BNP Paribas Open, where she defeated Lucie Hradecká 7–6, 7–6, in the first round. She then lost against the defending champion, 12th-seeded Vera Zvonareva, 4–6, 5–7.
Stephens made another run at the 2011 BNP Paribas Open, where she defeated fellow American Jamie Hampton in the first round. In the second round, she lost to world no. 1, and eventual champion, Caroline Wozniacki. The next week, as a wildcard entry, she won both matches at the qualifying stage of the 2011 Sony Ericsson Open to qualify for a spot in the main draw.
In May 2011 Stephens won the $50,000 2011 Camparini Gioielli Cup. It was her first tournament win on the ITF circuit. Stephens then participated in the qualifying draw of the French Open as the 21st seed. She beat Anastasia Pivovarova in the qualifying competition to qualify for the main draw event. She lost to Elena Baltacha in the first round.
At the 2011 Wimbledon Championships, Stephens was the 12th seed in qualifying. She lost in the second round to Nina Bratchikova. Following her improved performance at Wimbledon, she reached a career-high ranking of world no. 125 on July 4, 2011.
Stephens was given a wildcard in San Diego, Stephens made her first WTA quarterfinals, defeating Julia Goerges en route. However, she lost to Andrea Petkovic in the quarterfinals. She then lost in the first round of Cincinnati and the final qualifying round of New Haven.
Being granted a wildcard to the US Open, she won her first main draw Grand Slam match by beating Réka-Luca Jani 6–2, 3–6, 7–6 in the first round. She backed up this win by beating 23rd seed Shahar Pe'er 6–1, 7–6, in the second round. She then lost to former world no. 1 Ana Ivanovic.
In 2012, Stephens reached the second round of the Australian Open, where she lost to 18th seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova.
Stephens was then given a wildcard to play in the 2012 Indian Wells Masters where she made it to the second round. She then qualified for the 2012 Miami Masters where she advanced to the third round, defeating the No. 30 seed Sara Errani in the 2nd round. After failing to qualify for the 2012 Madrid Masters she qualified for the 2012 Internazionali BNL d'Italia and advanced to the second round.
Stephens then traveled to Strasbourg. She advanced to the second round after Maria Kirilenko retired at 3-6, 7-5. Stephens then beat fellow teenager Tímea Babos 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, before advancing to the semifinals with a straight set 6-3, 6-4 win over Ayumi Morita. Stephens was defeated in the semifinals by former French Open champion Francesca Schiavone. It was Stephens' first trip to the semifinals of a WTA tournament.
Sloane Stephens advanced to the fourth round of the 2012 French Open by defeating Ekaterina Makarova, Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Mathilde Johansson.
Tournament | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 |
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Australian Open | A | A | LQ | 2R |
French Open | A | A | 1R | |
Wimbledon | A | A | LQ | |
US Open | LQ | LQ | 3R |
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Persondata | |
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Name | Stephens, Sloane |
Alternative names | |
Short description | |
Date of birth | March 20, 1993 |
Place of birth | Fort Lauderdale, Florida |
Date of death | |
Place of death |
Tanya Stephens | |
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Birth name | Vivienne Tanya Stephens |
Also known as | Tanya Stephens |
Born | (1973-07-02) 2 July 1973 (age 38) |
Origin | St. Mary, Jamaica |
Genres | Dancehall, reggae |
Occupations | Deejay, singer |
Years active | 1990s-present |
Labels | VP, Madhouse |
Vivienne Tanya Stephens, better known by her stage name Tanya Stephens (born 2 July 1973, Kingston, Jamaica)[1] is an influential reggae artist who emerged in the late 1990s. Stephens is most known for her hits "Yuh Nuh Ready Fi Dis Yet" — the single was later featured on the Reggae Gold 1997 compilation album — and "It's a Pity", which achieved Tanya international recognition.[2]
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Stephens was born in 1973 and grew up in St. Mary and St. Ann, attending Zion Hill and Ocho Rios primary schools and St Mary High.[1]
Her album Rebelution was released in August 2006,[2] and the first single "These Streets" was a number one hit in the Caribbean staying on Tempo's Chart at number 1 for more than 4 weeks. The album was totally sold out in Jamaica and other parts of the Caribbean. The track "Rosa" is a tribute to Rosa Parks.[3]
Her early material was lyrically typical of dancehall and drew comparisons with Lady Saw,[4] along with whom she was proclaimed "the top female artists in Jamaica" in 1998 by the Washington Post,[5] but later developed beyond what she called "the same old four topics" to 'reality' themes and even lyrics critical of homophobia.[2] Social scientist Clinton Hutton said of her: "She is very intuitively intelligent and deftly tackles relevant social issues".[1]
Her 2001 album Sintoxicated saw her sign to Warner Music Sweden and make "a Macy Gray-style pop album with two Swedish producers, Emil Gotthard and Peter Cartiers".[6]
In 2007, Stephens was awarded a scholarship by Resource Development International to study for a Business Management degree via the internet from the University of Sunderland.[7]
Her latest album Infallible, was released in 2010.[8]
Stephens has a daughter, Kelly, born in 1994.[9]
Bedouin Soundclash reference Tanya's hit "Yuh Nuh Ready Fi Dis Yet" in "Living In Jungles" from the album Sounding a Mosaic.
Persondata | |
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Name | Stephens, Tanya |
Alternative names | |
Short description | |
Date of birth | 2 July 1973 |
Place of birth | |
Date of death | |
Place of death |
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Country | France |
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Residence | Geneva, Switzerland |
Born | (1984-10-02) 2 October 1984 (age 27) Le Puy-en-Velay, France |
Height | 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in) |
Weight | 63kg [1] |
Turned pro | February 2000 |
Plays | Right-handed (two-handed both sides) born left-handed |
Career prize money | $7,145,016 |
Singles | |
Career record | 446–270 |
Career titles | 7 WTA, 6 ITF |
Highest ranking | No. 7 (January 30, 2012) |
Current ranking | No. 8 (May 21, 2012) |
Grand Slam Singles results | |
Australian Open | QF (2009) |
French Open | SF (2011) |
Wimbledon | F (2007) |
US Open | 4R (2007, 2008) |
Other tournaments | |
Championships | RR (2007, 2011) |
Doubles | |
Career record | 117–82 |
Career titles | 3 WTA, 1 ITF titles |
Highest ranking | No. 15 (July 5, 2004) |
Grand Slam Doubles results | |
Australian Open | 3R (2004, 2005) |
French Open | 3R (2005, 2006) |
Wimbledon | QF (2004) |
US Open | SF (2003) |
Last updated on: March 7, 2012. |
Marion Bartoli (born 2 October 1984) is a French professional tennis player and the current French no. 1. She has won seven Women's Tennis Association singles titles and three doubles titles.[2] She was also a runner-up at the 2007 Wimbledon Championships.
Bartoli has defeated three reigning world no. 1 players in her career so far. She defeated Justine Henin in the semifinal of the 2007 Wimbledon Championships, 1–6, 7–5, 6–1, Jelena Janković in the fourth round of the 2009 Australian Open, 6–1, 6–4 and Victoria Azarenka 6–3, 6–3 in the quarterfinals of the 2012 Sony Ericsson Open. She has also recorded wins over other top players such as Venus Williams, Serena Williams, Ana Ivanović, Lindsay Davenport, Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, Dinara Safina, Caroline Wozniacki, Petra Kvitova, Sam Stosur and Kim Clijsters.
She is known for her unorthodox style of play using two hands on both her forehand and backhand. On January 30th 2012 she rose to a new career high ranking of No.7 in the world.
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Bartoli was born in Le Puy-en-Velay, Haute-Loire. She is of Corsican, Catalan, and metropolitan French descent.[3] She started playing tennis at the age of six. Bartoli trained in a small facility as a youngster, where there was not much room behind the baseline. Her father, Walter, gave up his career as a doctor to become her full-time coach when Bartoli won the 2001 Junior US Open title, defeating Svetlana Kuznetsova, 4–6, 6–3, 6–4.
She is an animal lover and has a cat named Calinette. Bartoli has a brother who is in the French military. Her role model off the court is Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. She is also an admirer of Roger Federer. Her mother Sophie, is a nurse and is rarely seen in the crowd, as she gets so nervous watching her daughter play. Bartoli has told the press she had an IQ of 175, when tested as a child.[4]
This biographical section of an 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. (March 2009) |
Bartoli is known for her unorthodox and very intense style of play on the court. She uses two hands on both the forehand and the backhand, and is generally classed as an aggressive and hard-hitting player. She developed her two-handed style on the advice of her father, who is also her coach. He had seen the classic 1992 French Open final in which Monica Seles defeated Steffi Graf, and immediately was inspired to teach the technique to his daughter.
Bartoli also had trouble with her forehand at the time, so when she made the switch to two hands, it greatly improved and she has never stopped. She uses her double-fisted strokes to create sharp angles to open up the court and prefers to take the ball very early on groundstrokes. Her return of serve is considered to be her biggest weapon and she often stands inside the baseline to receive serve, even on first serves.
Her style of play can be most closely compared to that of Seles, who had a strong influence on Bartoli as a young player, though unlike Seles, Bartoli is right-handed.
In the past she was not a very good mover and was further inhibited by her two-fisted strokes, which could make her vulnerable to fast all-court players. Since then Bartoli has worked on her fitness and mobility and has lost weight, and now her court movement has improved markedly.
Bartoli is also known for her unusual serve, in which she uses her wrist to generate speed. She has also changed her service motion many times over the years. Furthermore, Bartoli manifests unusual on-court mannerisms and never stops moving and jumps on the spot between points. She is continuously moving her legs and sometimes does this when her opponent is serving.
Bartoli is currently playing using the new Prince EXO 3 Warrior racquet. She has previously used the Prince EXO3 Black and the Prince O3 Red. All her Prince racquets are modified in New York to make them longer by 1.5 inches than standard racquets to give her better reach with her two-handed strokes. For many years she had no clothing sponsor, but wore Nike. In October 2011, she signed a three year clothing deal with Lotto. Before her breakthrough into the top 100, Bartoli was playing with a standard length Babolat racquet and she was wearing Le Coq Sportif apparel.
Bartoli started entering tournaments regularly at the age of 16. After a few aborted starts in 1999 and 2000, in 2001 she played in the ITF $10,000 clay events in the spring. Winning two tournaments back to back in May (in Hatfield and Torino) ensured that the French Open would giver her a wildcard into her first Grand Slam, where she lost to Catalina Castaño. Bartoli also won another tournament in Koksijde, Belgium.
In 2002, she received a wildcard into the Australian Open. She lost to Tina Pisnik, 3–6, 6–4, 7–9. She then won her fourth ITF title in Columbus, Ohio. She followed that with a first-round exit at the French Open, losing in three sets to Ai Sugiyama. In the US Open where she qualified, she upset Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, 6–3, 6–1. It was Bartoli's first win over a player in the top 100. She followed that with a win over Rossana de los Ríos, before losing to fourth seed Lindsay Davenport, 3–6, 1–6.
Bartoli began 2003 by reaching her first WTA semifinals in the Canberra Women's Classic, losing to Francesca Schiavone, 4–6, 6–3, 3–6, after coming through the qualifying draw. For the first time, she earned her place in a Grand Slam (the Australian Open) through her ranking, but lost to 11th seed Magdalena Maleeva in the first round in straight sets. She then received a wildcard in Paris, but lost in the first round to Maja Matevžič. She then qualified for her first Tier I event at Indian Wells, California, before losing in straight sets to eighth-seeded Chanda Rubin in the second round. She repeated this two weeks later by qualifying in Key Biscayne, Florida, but this time made it to the quarterfinals, after Davenport retired in their fourth-round match because of an injured hamstring. She then lost to Serena Williams, 1–6, 2–6.[5]
She qualified for the Sarasota Clay Court Classic and the Family Circle Cup, but lost in the first round of both tournaments, as well as in the first round of the Bausch & Lomb Championships. In the Internationaux de Strasbourg, she reached the quarterfinals, losing to Vera Zvonareva 1–6, 2–6. At the 2003 French Open, she earned her first victory over Rossana de los Ríos 6–3, 6–0, but lost to Jennifer Capriati in the second round. In the grass season, she made it to the third round in Birmingham, losing to Elena Dementieva after upsetting Émilie Loit in the first round. She then lost to compatriot Amélie Mauresmo in 's-Hertogenbosch. At her first Wimbledon, she drew the ninth seed, Slovak Daniela Hantuchová in the first round and lost 4–6, 1–6.
She lost in early rounds in Bank of the West Classic, JPMorgan Chase Open, Rogers AT&T Cup, and Pilot Pen Tennis. However, at the Acura Classic, she defeated her first top-20 player in Meghann Shaughnessy 3–6, 7–6, 7–5, but lost to Kim Clijsters in the third round 1–6, 1–6. She drew Hantuchová again in the first round of the US Open, and again only took five games off the Slovak, this time losing 3–6, 2–6. She then failed to qualify in the Sparkassen Cup and Porsche Tennis Grand Prix. At the end of the year, she reached the second round of Generali Ladies Linz, losing to Vera Zvonareva, and the quarterfinals of Bell Challenge, losing to Milagros Sequera, 6–1, 3–6, 1–6.
Bartoli began 2004 by getting to her first Women's Tennis Association (WTA) semifinal in the season-opener in Auckland. She got to the second round of the Australian Open for the first time, losing to 22nd-seeded Patty Schnyder in three sets.
In February, Bartoli played at the 2004 Hyderabad Open, where she won three straight matches against Ankita Bhambri, Galina Fokina, and Mervana Jugić-Salkić to reach the semifinals, before losing to eventual champion Nicole Pratt in three sets. This performance briefly made her a top-50 player.
But simultaneously she refound her doubles form of late 2003. Partnering compatriot Émilie Loit, she reached the semifinals of Acapulco, the quarterfinals of Indian Wells, and then Bartoli won her first WTA tour doubles title in Casablanca.
After a forgettable singles clay-court season (culminating in her second loss to Sugiyama at her native Grand Slam event), she rose back up the rankings by reaching the third round of Wimbledon (losing to Sugiyama for the second successive Grand Slam). She also got to the quarterfinals of Wimbledon in doubles, partnering Loit for the second successive Grand Slam (they had failed to get beyond the second round of the French Open). Bartoli got to her third singles semifinal of the year in Cincinnati, before pulling out of her match with Lindsay Davenport with a blister on her right hand. She reached the second round of the US Open, despite being drawn against 32nd-seeded Meghann Shaughnessy in the first round. She lost to Russian Vera Douchevina in three sets in the second round.
In the absence of Amélie Mauresmo (with a groin injury) and Mary Pierce (with a shoulder problem), Bartoli received her debut Fed Cup call-up for France's semifinals against Spain. She was teamed with Loit again and helped complete a 5–0 whitewash of the Spanish team. In the final against Russia, Svetlana Kuznetsova had lost both of her matches, and Anastasia Myskina had won both of hers, making Bartoli's and Loit's doubles match against Myskina and Vera Zvonareva the decisive rubber. The Russian pair won the first set in a tiebreak, then the second set 7–5, handing the Fed Cup to Russia for the first time. As a result, her team leader Guy Forget resigned, and she was not chosen by the new team leader Georges Goven to play in 2005.[6]
She ended 2004 ranked world no. 41, having gone 30–24 over the year. Her hard-court record was 23–13, with clay going 4–7, grass 3–3, and carpet 0–1.
After a promising start (semifinals in Auckland and quarterfinals in Canberra), which took her to world no. 32 and winning the second doubles tournament of her career in Pattaya City, injury disrupted the second quarter of 2005 for Bartoli. The only match she played in the clay-court season was her straight-sets first-round loss to Shahar Pe'er at the French Open (where she was seeded for the first time, 28th). Her quarterfinal run at Eastbourne (where she had to retire hurt) led her to a career-high ranking of no. 27 entering Wimbledon. She lost to Jill Craybas in the second round, 1–6, 4–6. Highlights of the year were reaching the third round of the US Open for the second time (losing to Sania Mirza) and making her second Women's Tennis Association semifinal of the year (and fifth of her career) in Québec.
Her end-of-season stats were 35–26, albeit padded by a victory in a satellite tournament in Doha at the end of the year. She went 30–21 on hard courts, 0–1 on clay, 3–3 on grass, and 2–1 on carpet. She was now ranked world no. 40.
In January 2006, Bartoli at 21 years of age won her first senior title at the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand, beating Vera Zvonareva in the final, 6–2, 6–2. The tournament marked the first time she had beaten a top-10 player, when Nadia Petrova retired in the third set of their semifinal with a leg injury. She then lost in the second round of the first three Grand Slam events of the year (losing to Roberta Vinci in Australia, Serb Jelena Janković at the French Open, and Karolina Šprem at Wimbledon, all in three sets), but she won her third career doubles title by capturing the ECM Prague Open with Shahar Pe'er in May.
The North American summer hard-court season was very productive for Bartoli, getting to the third round (and in some cases that meant the quarterfinals) of five of the seven tournaments she entered, including the US Open, where she again lost in the third round, this time to seventh-seeded Patty Schnyder. The following week, she beat the Swiss player on route to her second final of the year in Bali, where she lost to world no. 5 Svetlana Kuznetsova.
In October, Bartoli won her second Women's Tennis Association (WTA) singles title at the AIG Japan Open Tennis Championships, beating Aiko Nakamura, 2–6, 6–2, 6–2, in the final. This was the first ever WTA final contested by two players using two-handed strokes on both the forehand and backhand.[citation needed] As a result of winning the title, she broke into the top 20 for the first time. In her last event of the year, she captured the Bell Challenge in Quebec City, shutting out Olga Poutchkova in the final, 6–0, 6–0.
Bartoli finished the year ranked world no. 17. Her record was 45–28, her best on tour so far. That consisted of 37–17 on hard courts, 4–6 on clay, 3–3 on grass, and 1–2 on carpet. She was 3–6 against top-10 players.
Bartoli began 2007 with another second-round exit at the Australian Open, this time falling to Victoria Azarenka in straight sets. She then performed well at the Tier I Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, California, defeating ninth seed Dinara Safina, 6–4, 6–3, in the third round, before losing to sixth seed Nicole Vaidišová, 6–4, 3–6, 2–6, in the fourth round.
Bartoli then began to find her form during the clay-court season, which had previously not been a successful surface for her. She reached the final of the ECM Prague Open in May, losing to Akiko Morigami. Bartoli was hindered by a hip injury during the latter stages of the Prague tournament and withdrew from the Tier I tournament in Rome as a result. After reaching the semifinals in Strasbourg, she lost to Amélie Mauresmo. Then she reached her first career Grand Slam fourth round at the French Open by defeating Aravane Rezaï, 6–2, 6–4, Andrea Petkovic, 0–6, 6–2, 6–3 and 13th seed Elena Dementieva, 6–2, 6–4. In the fourth round, she was knocked out by fourth seed Jelena Janković, 1–6, 1–6. During this match, Bartoli injured her back.
Her form continued into the grass-court season, beating Daniela Hantuchová in three sets en route to a semifinal encounter with Maria Sharapova in Birmingham, which she lost in straight sets. A week later in Eastbourne, she got to her second successive semifinal, dispatching Elena Dementieva in the quarterfinals, 6–1, 6–0, before losing to world no. 1 Justine Henin, 1–6, 3–6.
At Wimbledon, Bartoli made her long-awaited Grand Slam breakthrough by advancing to her first Grand Slam final. After a win against 16th seed Shahar Pe'er, Bartoli upset third seeded Jelena Janković, 3–6, 7–5, 6–3, in a match interrupted by many rain delays. Bartoli followed this by beating Michaëlla Krajicek of the Netherlands, 3–6, 6–3, 6–2, in another delayed match. In her first Grand Slam semifinal, Bartoli came from behind to stun top-seeded Justine Henin, 1–6, 7–5, 6–1, in one of the biggest upsets in Wimbledon history.[7] Bookmakers had Henin at 1/33 to win, and Bartoli was a 10–1 outside shot. Bartoli claimed afterwards that the reason for her turnaround in the match was seeing Pierce Brosnan in the royal box and being determined to play well in front of one of her favourite actors. In her post-match interview, she asked the former James Bond star if he could come back for the final the next day to see her again. However, the following day Brosnan was unable to attend, due to a wedding. In the final, Bartoli lost to three-time former champion Venus Williams, 4–6, 1–6. Her father, who was sitting in the player's box behind Williams' father Richard, broke down and cried when she acknowledged him in her post-match remarks as being responsible for her achievements. As a result of her Wimbledon performance, she rose to a career high of no. 11 in the Women's Tennis Association rankings.
After withdrawing from the Fed Cup, her first foray into the US Open Series ended in a defeat at Stanford. Seeded second, Bartoli faced American wildcard Lilia Osterloh in the second round and lost 7–5, 4–6, 3–6. Bartoli suffered a leg injury in the first set, which hindered her movement; she also cited fatigue and illness as contributing factors to the loss. In San Diego, Bartoli edged past Aiko Nakamura 7–6, 6–1, after a first-round bye, but lost to Elena Dementieva in the third round, 4–6, 5–7. This loss was perhaps seen as surprising because Bartoli had won their last two meetings, including losing just one game at Eastbourne. Despite the loss, Bartoli claimed that her level of play was fine; however, she lost her next match in Los Angeles to an in-form Maria Kirilenko 6–7, 3–6, after receiving a bye to the second round.
Bartoli picked up her form in Toronto, winning consecutive matches for the first time since Wimbledon. She beat Maria Kirilenko and Dinara Safina, but retired in her quarterfinal match against Yan Zi when trailing 2–6, 0–3. At New Haven, she beat Virginia Ruano Pascual 6–0, 6–4, before losing to Elena Dementieva once again 4–6, 2–6.
At the US Open, she reached the fourth round for the first time by defeating world no. 25 Lucie Šafářová in three sets. In the fourth round, she lost to eight-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams 3–6, 4–6.
After her US Open performance, Bartoli began her indoor season at a small tournament in Kolkata, India. She was the top-seeded player, but lost to Vania King. She then played at the Fortis Championships in Luxembourg, where she reached her first semifinal since her Wimbledon run by beating defending champion Alona Bondarenko and top-seeded Anna Chakvetadze for her third top-10 win of the year. However, she was then beaten by Daniela Hantuchová, 2–6, 2–6. She then suffered a first-round loss in Stuttgart to Agnieszka Radwańska, 6–0, 2–6, 1–6, on her 23rd birthday.
Bartoli then moved to the Kremlin Cup in Moscow, the first Tier I of the indoor season. She was the fifth seed at this event, and in the first round beat Alona Bondarenko for the second time in three weeks, 6–2, 7–5. However, she lost in the next round to home favourite Vera Dushevina, 6–2, 0–6, 4–6. She then moved on to another Tier I event in Zürich and reached the quarterfinals with wins over Peng Shuai and Michaëlla Krajicek. Her run came to an unfortunate end against Tatiana Golovin, when she had to retire with a knee injury whilst leading 5–4. Bartoli hurt herself during the game at 4–4, where she broke Golovin to love due to a string of unforced errors from her compatriot, and despite attempts to continue, she was forced to retire and reportedly left the court in tears.[8]
Despite her injury, Bartoli still played at the Generali Ladies Linz held in Austria. After a first-round bye, she defeated homecrowd favourite Tamira Paszek in the second round, 6–2, 6–1. In the quarterfinals, she was pushed to three sets by a resilient Julia Vakulenko, but eventually prevailed, 6–1, 1–6, 6–4, to reach her second semifinal since Luxembourg. There, she lost to eventual runner-up Patty Schnyder, 6–7, 3–6, ending her hopes of reaching the WTA Tour Championships. However, after Serena Williams withdrew from the tournament due to her injury,[9] Bartoli entered the event and played in the yellow group. Since Serena had already played one match, Bartoli did not play Anna Chakvetadze. Bartoli lost 0–6, 0–6 to Justine Henin, who avenged her shock Wimbledon defeat to Bartoli, but Bartoli defeated Jelena Janković, 6–1, 1–0, after the Serbian retired.
Her final record for the year was 47–31, with 19–16 on hard courts, 14–7 on clay, 12–3 on grass, and 2–5 on carpet. Her record against top-10 players was 4–8. Despite not having earned a single title all year, she ended the year as a top-10 player at no. 10.
Bartoli started the year by playing the Medibank International in Sydney, losing to Francesca Schiavone in the second round 6–2, 3–6, 2–6. At the Australian Open, Bartoli was upset by Sofia Arvidsson 7–6, 4–6, 3–6, after Bartoli was up a break in both the second and third sets. At the Open Gaz de France, Bartoli made it to the semifinals, following easy wins over Virginie Razzano and Dominika Cibulková. However, she suffered a back injury while 6–2, 2–1 up against Anna Chakvetadze, but eventually lost 6–2, 2–6, 0–6. In Doha and Dubai, she lost to Caroline Wozniacki and Francesca Schiavone.
In the Indian Wells, California, following wins over Elena Vesnina and Angelique Kerber, she lost in the fourth round to Lindsay Davenport 5–7, 2–6. In Key Biscayne, Florida in her first match, she lost to Caroline Wozniacki 3–6, 1–6. On clay at Amelia Island, Florida, she lost in the second round to Olga Govortsova. In Charleston, South Carolina, she received a bye into the second round, where she defeated Casey Dellacqua 7–5, 4–6, 6–1, but lost to Vera Zvonareva 4–6, 6–4, 1–6. Then at the Qatar Telecom German Open, she made the third round, following an easy 6–0, 6–3 win over Lucie Šafářová, but was upset by Ágnes Szávay in the third round, 5–7, 5–7.
In Rome, she was seeded eighth and got a bye. In the third round, she was defeated by ninth-seeded Patty Schnyder 6–4, 4–6, 6–7, after leading 4–1 in the last set and holding a match point in the tiebreak. She then played in Strasbourg as the top seed. She badly injured her wrist and withdrew while trailing 1–6, 0–1 against Chinese Peng Shuai in her first match. At the French Open, she played through injury and was defeated by Dellacqua in the first round 7–6, 3–6, 2–6.
Seeded first at Birmingham, she was upset 7–5, 4–6, 0–6 by Petra Cetkovská. At Eastbourne, she defeated Sybille Bammer 6–3, 6–0, and Alisa Kleybanova 6–3, 6–3, but lost her semifinal match to eventual champion Agnieszka Radwańska 5–7, 3–6. At Wimbledon, she was seeded 11th and defeated Sabine Lisicki 6–2, 6–4, and Tathiana Perebiynis 6–2, 7–5. She was upset by Bethanie Mattek 4–6, 1–6, suffering calf and shoulder injuries.
Seeded sixth at Stanford, she defeated Akgul Amanmuradova in straight sets, Anne Keothavong, defending champion Anna Chakvetadze 6–3, 6–4, and Ai Sugiyama 6–3, 6–3, to move into her first final since Wimbledon in 2007. In the final, Bartoli lost to the Canadian qualifier Aleksandra Wozniak, 5–7, 3–6. In Montreal, she overcame a stomach virus to beat Melanie South, 6–3, 6–7, 6–0. After a walkover in the second round, Bartoli defeated Anna Chakvetadze, 4–6, 7–5, 7–6, saving three match points in the process. Then in the quarterfinals, she beat Ai Sugiyama, again in straight sets. Playing with a twisted ankle, Bartoli fell to Dominika Cibulková in the semifinals, 6–4, 4–6, 3–6.
In Cincinnati, she was seeded first, but pulled out while trailing 6–7, 2–2 to Jamea Jackson because of an abdominal strain. Then in New Haven, she defeated Tsvetana Pironkova, 2–6, 6–4, 7–5, but lost to Caroline Wozniacki, 4–6, 0–6. At the US Open, she was seeded 12th and strolled through her opening rounds against Galina Voskoboeva and Virginia Ruano Pascual. She then beat former champion and 23rd-seeded Lindsay Davenport in the third round, 6–1, 7–6. She lost to 29th-seeded Sybille Bammer in the fourth round, 6–7, 6–0, 4–6.
Bartoli's first event during the new WTA calendar was the inaugural Brisbane International. She was seeded third and defeated Monika Wejnert, 6–1, 6–2, Melinda Czink, 5–7, 6–3, 6–1, Tathiana Garbin, 6–3, 6–3. During the semifinal against Amélie Mauresmo, the latter had to retire due to injury; securing Bartoli a place in the final, which she lost to Victoria Azarenka, 3–6, 1–6. Bartoli withdrew from the Medibank International Sydney due to a left calf strain during a match with qualifier Melanie South, while tied at 1–1.
Seeded 16th at the Australian Open, she defeated Melanie South 6–2, 6–4, Tsvetana Pironkova 7–5, 6–2, and Lucie Šafářová, 3–6, 6–2, 6–1. Bartoli then stunned top seed Jelena Janković of Serbia by crushing her in straight sets 6–1, 6–4. However, she lost to seventh seeded Vera Zvonareva in the quarterfinals 3–6, 0–6. In 2010 Dubai Tennis Championships seeded 11th, she defeated Ai Sugiyama 6–0, 4–6, 7–6, and Francesca Schiavone 7–6, 3–6, 6–3, in the second round. However, in the third round, she retired while 2–5 down against Vera Zvonareva.
Bartoli then won her fourth career title at the Monterrey Open. Bartoli was seeded second, with wins over Michaëlla Krajicek 6–2, 6–4, Magdaléna Rybáriková 6–0, 6–4, Vania King 2–6, 6–2, 6–3, and Zheng Jie 7–5, 6–3. In the final, Bartoli defeated another Chinese player, unseeded Li Na 6–4, 6–3. Next, she suffered disappointing consecutive second-round defeats at Indian Wells and Miami, to Shahar Pe'er 6–1, 4–6, 5–7, and Anastasiya Yakimova 4–6, 3–6, after suffering from a viral illness.
After being too late to receive a wildcard into the Ponte Vedra Beach main draw, Bartoli accepted a wildcard into the qualifying draw and qualified. Bartoli faced the lower ranked eighth seed, Bethanie Mattek-Sands. However, Bartoli lost in a closely fought match 7–5, 6–7, 3–6. In Charleston, she was seeded sixth and defeated Anastasija Sevastova 6–1, 6–3, Melanie Oudin 6–4, 6–1, and Melinda Czink 6–4, 6–1, but lost to eventual champion Sabine Lisicki 3–6, 1–6, in the semifinal.
In Stuttgart, she defeated Karolina Šprem 6–3, 2–6, 6–1, and beat Caroline Wozniacki 7–6, 6–4. She then lost a close match against no. 3 Elena Dementieva 2–6, 6–4, 3–6. In Rome, she defeated Peng Shuai 6–0, 7–6, but fell to resurgent María José Martínez Sánchez 1–6, 5–7. In Madrid, she fell to Aleksandra Wozniak 6–7, 2–6, in the first round. At the French Open, Bartoli won her opening match against fellow Frenchwoman Pauline Parmentier 3–6, 6–1, 6–3. Bartoli was then upset by Tathiana Garbin of Italy in the second round 3–6, 5–7.
On grass, Bartoli advanced to the second round in Eastbourne by easing past Gisela Dulko 6–3, 6–1, Anna Chakvetadze 7–5, 6–3, and Anabel Medina Garrigues 6–1, 6–4, before retiring with an injury against Virginie Razzano whilst trailing 4–6, 0–1. Seeded 12th at Wimbledon, Bartoli dominated Chan Yung-jan 6–0, 6–0. She then defeated Timea Bacsinszky in the second round 7–5, 6–1, but fell 6–7, 0–6, to Francesca Schiavone in the third round.
Bartoli played her first tournament of the US Open Series in Stanford as eighth seed. She won the title by defeating Ayumi Morita 7–6, 6–3, Melanie Oudin 7–5, 6–4, Jelena Janković 3–6, 7–6, 6–3, saving two match points in the second set, Samantha Stosur in the semifinals 6–3, 1–6, 6–1, and second seed Venus Williams in the finals 6–2, 5–7, 6–4, to win her second title of the year and fifth overall.[10] Bartoli was seeded 13th at the Cincinnati Masters, but fell to Kim Clijsters in her comeback match, in the first round 4–6, 3–6. She then lost in the first round of Toronto to Alona Bondarenko 4–6, 3–6. In New Haven, she beat María José Martínez Sánchez 4–6, 6–3, 6–1, but retired from the next round against Magdaléna Rybáriková.
Seeded 14th at the 2009 US Open, Bartoli crushed Rossana de los Ríos 6–1, 6–0, but lost to eventual champion Kim Clijsters 7–5, 1–6, 2–6. Seeded 14th at the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, Bartoli won over Sorana Cîrstea 6–3, 6–0, Aravane Rezaï 6–4, 6–2, and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 4–6, 6–2, 7–5. In the quarterfinals, Marion lost to 7th seed Jelena Janković, 4–6, 3–6. Marion entered the China Open in Beijing and was seeded 14. She defeated Magdaléna Rybáriková, 6–2, 4–6, 6–3, Alisa Kleybanova, 6–2, 6–3, Zhang Shuai, 6–1, 6–4, and Vera Zvonareva, 3–6, 7–5, 6–2. In the semifinals, Marion lost to 12th seed Agnieszka Radwańska, 4–6, 3–6, despite being up a break at stages in both sets. As second seed in Osaka, Japan, Bartoli defeated Galina Voskoboeva, 6–3, 7–5, and Kurumi Nara, 6–1, 6–1. In the quarterfinals, Bartoli was defeated by Sania Mirza, as Marion retired due to pain in her right shoulder.
At the 2009 Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions in Bali, Bartoli defeated Rybáriková, 6–4, 6–4, and qualified for the semifinals when she beat Peer, 6–3, 6–2. She then defeated Kimiko Date-Krumm, 6–1, 6–3. In the final, Bartoli lost the first set to Aravane Rezaï, 5–7, and then retired due to a left quad strain.
Bartoli started her year as the 11th seed at the 2010 Australian Open. She defeated Rossana de los Ríos in the first round, 6–4, 6–1. In the second round, she defeated Sandra Záhlavová, 6–4, 6–4. In the third round, she lost to unseeded and eventual semifinalist Zheng Jie, 7–5, 3–6, 0–6, ending her hopes of reaching the quarterfinals again.
Bartoli then competed at the 2010 Dubai Tennis Championships, where she was seeded 11th. She defeated qualifier Ekaterina Makarova in the first round, 6–2, 6–0, in just 63 minutes. In the second round, she defeated Alexandra Dulgheru, 6–2, 6–1, in just 57 minutes. In the third round, she lost to 8th seed Li Na 6–3, 5–7, 0–6, despite being up 5–2 in the second set and having two opportunities to serve out the match.
Bartoli then entered the 2010 BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, where she was seeded 11th. She received a bye in the first round and defeated Polona Hercog 6–4, 6–2, in the second round. In the third round, she defeated American veteran Jill Craybas 6–2, 6–0, to move on to the fourth round, where she was once again defeated by world no. 8 and 5th seed Agnieszka Radwańska 3–6, 2–6. Despite this loss, Marion gained ranking points overall, having improved on her second round exit last year and moved up from no. 16 to no. 15 in the world.
Bartoli's then entered the 2010 Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, another Premier Mandatory event, where she improved on a disappointing second-0round loss last year. As the 13th seed, she received a bye into the second round, where she defeated Magdaléna Rybáriková 6–2, 6–4, in straight sets, despite being 1–4 down in the second set. In the third round, she defeated unseeded Gisela Dulko 7–6, 6–4, to advance to the fourth round, where she defeated top seed and world no. 4 Svetlana Kuznetsova 6–3, 6–0, in under an hour. In the quarterfinals, she defeated 12th seed Yanina Wickmayer 6–4, 7–5, in just under 2 hours. At one stage in the second set, Bartoli was 2–4, 30–40 down against Wickmayer's serve, and later on faced three consecutive set points whilst serving at 4–5, 0–40. Bartoli saved them all, winning 12 of the next 13 points to close in on victory and to book her place in the semifinal against world no. 5 Venus Williams. She lost 3–6, 4–6 to the world no. 5, despite being 3–1 up in the second set. Bartoli also had trouble with her serve and served up four double faults in one game during the match, and seven overall. However, due to Marion's good performance in Miami, she moved up to no. 12 in the world.
Bartoli then began her clay-court season at the 2010 Family Circle Cup, a Premier Event in Charleston. Bartoli was seeded fifth, and as a top-8 seed she received a bye into the second round. She retired against Peng Shuai in her second round match whilst trailing 6–2, 6–7, 3–4, due to dizziness and apparent abdominal pains. She lost her semifinal points from 2009 and dropped one place in the rankings to no. 13.
She then flew to Europe to compete on the red clay and entered the 2010 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, where she had made the quarterfinals in 2009. Marion narrowly missed out on being seeded and had a tough draw, losing to 7th seed and eventual finalist Samantha Stosur in the first round, 2–6, 1–6. Marion lost valuable points again and dropped to no. 14.
Bartoli then competed at the 2010 Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open as the 12th seed. Marion defeated Polona Hercog in the first round, taking 2 hours and 30 minutes to defeat the young clay-court specialist, 3–6, 6–4, 6–4. Marion was then upset by world no. 54 Anabel Medina Garrigues in the second round 2–6, 0–6.
Bartoli then competed at her final clay-court tournament before the French Open, the 2010 Polsat Warsaw Open, where she was seeded 4th. Despite telling the press that she felt confident with the draw and her physical condition, Marion lost to world no. 78 Klára Zakopalová in the first round 6–4, 1–6, 2–6.
Bartoli then competed at the 2010 French Open as the 12th seed and French no. 1 with only one win on clay under her belt. She drew Maria Elena Camerin in the first round, and she beat her 6–2, 6–3. In the second round, she defeated compatriot and wildcard Olivia Sanchez 7–5, 6–2. She was defeated by Israeli Shahar Pe'er in the third round 6–7, 2–6.
Bartoli was seeded 8th at the AEGON International. Bartoli defeated Vera Dushevina 6–4, 7–5, Ágnes Szávay 3–6, 6–4, 6–4, and María José Martínez Sánchez 5–7, 6–4, 7–6, before falling in the semifinals to Victoria Azarenka 3–6, 5–7. It was the fourth consecutive year that Bartoli had made the semifinals at Eastbourne.
Bartoli was seeded 11th at the 2010 Wimbledon Championships. She defeated Julia Görges in the first round 6–4, 6–3, and moved straight into the third round after Petra Martić withdrew from the tournament with suspected injury. In the third round, Marion defeated qualifier Gréta Arn 6–3, 6–4, before falling 4–6, 4–6 in the fourth round to eventual semifinalist Tsvetana Pironkova.
At the 2010 Bank of the West Classic in Stanford, California, where she was defending her title, she defeated American Ashley Harkleroad 6–1, 6–4, in the first round. In the second round, she defeated former world no. 1 Ana Ivanović 6–3, 6–4, before falling in the quarterfinals and losing her crown to Victoria Azarenka 6–3, 3–6, 3–6. This loss caused her to drop to world no. 20, the lowest her ranking has been for a few years.
Bartoli then flew to San Diego to compete at the 2010 Mercury Insurance Open, where she was seeded 6th. In the opening round, she was defeated by Daniela Hantuchová 3–6, 7–6, 6–4.
Bartoli then entered the 2010 Western & Southern Financial Group Women's Open in Cincinnati and was seeded 16th. She defeated Anabel Medina Garrigues 6–4, 6–0, in the first round and Alona Bondarenko 7–6, 6–1, in the second round. In the third round, she came back from a break down 3–4 in the first set to defeat second seed and world no. 3 Caroline Wozniacki 6–4, 6–1. In the quarterfinals, she was defeated by 10th seed Maria Sharapova 1–6, 4–6.
Seeded 17th at the Rogers Cup in Montreal, Bartoli defeated Canadian wildcard Valérie Tétreault in the first round 6–1, 6–0. In the second, she was scheduled to play Lucky Loser Kimiko Date-Krumm, before Kimiko withdrew from the match with a leg injury. Marion received a walkover into the third round, where she crushed qualifier Iveta Benešová 6–0, 6–1. In the quarterfinals, she was defeated for the third time this year by 10th seed Victoria Azarenka 2–6, 6–7, despite having four set points at 6–2 up in the tiebreak.
At her final tournament before the US Open, the 2010 Pilot Pen Tennis tournament in New Haven, Bartoli was seeded 6th and defeated Alona Bondarenko in a first-round marathon 6–7, 7–6, 6–3. She defeated Anastasia Rodionova in the second round 6–3, 6–1. In the quarterfinals, Marion lost an exhausting encounter with 4th seed Elena Dementieva 3–6, 6–3, 2–6.
At the 2010 US Open, Marion was seeded 13th and defeated Edina Gallovits 6–3, 6–2, in the first round. In the second round, she was upset by world no. 157 and French compatriot Virginie Razzano 5–7, 4–6.
Putting her disappointing loss at the US Open behind her, Bartoli flew to Canada to compete in the 2010 Bell Challenge in Quebec. Seeded first, she was looking to gain her first title of the year. She hammered Stéphanie Foretz Gacon in the first round 6–1, 6–1, but was upset by Canadian wildcard Rebecca Marino 3–6, 1–6, in the second round. During the match, Bartoli had trouble with her serve, and served eight double faults and three aces in eight service games, whereas Marino served 10 aces and one double fault.
Bartoli then entered the 2010 Toray Pan Pacific Open, a Premier event in Tokyo, where she attempted to defend quarterfinal points. In the first round, she defeated Yanina Wickmayer (the highest ranked unseeded player in the draw at 21) in straight sets, 6–4, 6–4. She defeated Ana Ivanović in the second round, 6–2, 6–1, to book a third-round encounter with 8th-seed Victoria Azarenka. After taking a long medical timeout at 1–4 in the first set, Marion attempted to continue, but after losing the first set 2–6, Bartoli retired due to illness.
Her next tournament was the 2010 China Open, a Premier Mandatory event in Beijing. She faced Ana Ivanović in the first round and lost, 2–6, 3–6.
Bartoli then entered her final tournament of the year, the 2010 HP Open in Osaka, Japan. Ranked no. 16 in the world, she was seeded second behind Samantha Stosur. Bartoli cruised into the quarterfinals by defeating Julie Coin, 6–2, 6–1, and Stefanie Vögele, 6–2, 6–2. She then defeated American veteran Jill Craybas, 6–1, 6–2, to book a place in the semifinals with Tamarine Tanasugarn, where she lost 2–6, 5–7.
Bartoli ended the year at world no. 16 with a total record of 34–21 and a record of 2–4 against top-10 players.
Bartoli kicked off her 2011 season on January 2 with an appearance at the 2011 Brisbane International. She was seeded fourth and defeated American qualifier Vania King in the first round, 6–1, 6–2. She then defeated Czech player Iveta Benešová, 6–1, 3–6, 6–0, to book a place in the quarterfinals, where she defeated another Czech player Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová, 6–2, 6–1. In the semifinals, she was defeated by Andrea Petkovic 4–6, 2–6, despite being up a double break 4–1 in the first set.
Bartoli was top seeded at the 2011 Moorilla Hobart International in her first appearance at the tournament. A tough test was expected in the first round, as she had drawn former world no. 1 Dinara Safina in the first round. However, Bartoli won easily, 6–0, 6–1. She defeated Elena Vesnina in the next round 6–4, 6–1, before losing to fifth seed Klára Zakopalová in the quarterfinals 4–6, 2–6.
Bartoli was seeded 15th at the 2011 Australian Open Grand Slam, and she played Tathiana Garbin in the first round and won with a double bagel, 6–0, 6–0. She was defeated by Vesna Manasieva is the second round 6–3, 3–6, 0–6, after tearing her right calf muscle at 5–1 in the first set.
Bartoli was expected to be away from the tour for 4–6 weeks to recover from her injury, but she played the 2011 Dubai Tennis Championships. She was seeded 10th and defeated Kimiko Date-Krumm in the first round 7–6, 6–4. In the second round, she came back from 3–6, 1–4 to defeat Timea Bacsinszky 3–6, 6–4, 6–1. In the third round, she was defeated by 8th seed Agnieszka Radwańska 3–6, 2–6.
Her next tournament was the 2011 Qatar Ladies Open in Doha. With a strong field, Marion was unseeded and defeated Alisa Kleybanova in the first round 7–5, 6–2. She then crushed Shahar Pe'er, 6–1, 6–0, in the second round to book a quarterfinal place against Peng Shuai, whom she beat 6–2, 6–2. She then faced world no. 1 and first seed Caroline Wozniacki in the semifinals. However, she lost in straight sets 1–6, 1–6.
Bartoli’s next stop was the 2011 BMV Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur. Playing there for the first time, Bartoli was seeded second behind Francesca Schiavone. In the first round, she crushed Maria-Elena Camerin 6–0, 6–1. She defeated Ekaterina Ivanova in the second round 6–2, 6–1, before losing to fifth seed Lucie Šafářová in the quarterfinals 1–6, 4–6.
Bartoli was seeded 15th at the 2011 BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells. Like all seeds, she received a bye into the second round, where she faced qualifier and fellow double-hander Monica Niculescu. Bartoli came from a set and a break down at 2–6, 1–2 to win 2–6, 6–3, 6–2. She then cruised past 21st seed Andrea Petkovic in the third round 6–4, 6–2, to book a fourth-round encounter with second seed Kim Clijsters. Clijsters won the first set 6–3, but at 1–3 in the second set Clijsters retired due to a right shoulder injury. Bartoli edged 19th seed Ana Ivanović in the quarterfinals 6–4, 7–6, and easily defeated 23rd seed Yanina Wickmayer 6–1, 6–3, in the semifinals to reach the final, where she played against world no. 1 Caroline Wozniacki. Bartoli was defeated 1–6, 6–2, 3–6, but returned to the top 10, regardless of the loss.
Seeded 15th at the 2011 Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, Bartoli received a bye into the second round, where she defeated Ayumi Morita 6–3, 2–6, 6–1. She then defeated Ekaterina Makarova 6–0, 6–2, before falling to third seed Vera Zvonareva in the fourth round 6–2, 3–6, 2–6.
Her next tournament was the 2011 Family Circle Cup, where she was seeded fourth. As a top-8 seed, she received a bye into the second round, where she was defeated by Sabine Lisicki 2–6, 3–6.
Bartoli was seeded 8th at the 2011 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart and defeated Tsvetana Pironkova in the first round 6–4, 6–1. Kristina Barrois defeated her in the second round in straight sets.
Bartoli was seeded first at the 2011 Barcelona Ladies Open in Barcelona, and Magdaléna Rybáriková defeated her in the first round in straight sets.
Bartoli's next tournament was the 2011 Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open, where she defeated Arantxa Parra Santonja 6–3, 6–2, before losing to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 5–7, 1–6, in the second round.
Her poor form on clay continued into the 2011 Internazionali BNL d'Italia, where she lost in the second round to Anabel Medina Garrigues 4–6, 3–6.
Seeded first at the 2011 Internationaux de Strasbourg, Bartoli reached the semifinals, after defeating Kimiko Date-Krumm 6–2, 6–1, receiving a walkover from Elena Baltacha and defeating 8th seed Lucie Hradecká 6–2, 6–3. She then defeated seventh seed Anabel Medina Garrigues to face second seed Andrea Petkovic in the final. However, she had to retire early in the second set.
Seeded 11th at the 2011 French Open, Bartoli won her opening round against Anna Tatishvili 1–6, 6–2, 6–1. In the second round, she beat Olga Govortsova in a tight baseline battle in just under three hours 6–4, 6–7, 6–2. Bartoli then defeated 17th seed Julia Goerges 3–6, 6–2. 6–4. She moved to the quarterfinals after Gisela Dulko retired from their fourth round match at 7–5, 1–0. Bartoli's dream of playing in the second week of her home slam became a reality, as she faced 13th seed Svetlana Kuznetsova in the quarterfinals. After two hours, Bartoli moved into the final four with a 7–6, 6–4 win. In the semifinals, she faced defending champion, Francesca Schiavone. Bartoli eventually lost, bringing her French Open campaign to an end 3–6, 3–6.
Moving onto the grass, Bartoli won the 2011 AEGON International at Eastbourne by defeating Lucie Šafářová 6–3, 3–6, 7–6, and Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez 6–3, 6–3. She then moved past third seed Victoria Azarenka, when Victoria retired during their match due to a thigh injury. Bartoli reached the semifinals for the fifth straight year and beat seventh seed Samantha Stosur. She then beat eighth seed Petra Kvitová to win the title.
Seeded ninth at the 2011 Wimbledon Championships, Bartoli breezed into the second round with a 6–0, 6–2 win over Czech qualifier Kristyna Pliskova. Her next opponent was Lourdes Dominguez Lino, whom she defeated 4–6, 7–5, 6–2. She advanced to the third round and faced the 21st seed, Flavia Pennetta. Bartoli finally won the match, which lasted over three hours, with a score of 5–7, 6–4, 9–7. She then defeated defending champion and grass-court veteran Serena Williams in the fourth round in straight sets 6–3, 7–6. Bartoli described beating Williams as the greatest win of her life.[11] In the quarterfinals, she lost 4–6, 7–6, 1–6 to Sabine Lisicki in a match notable for taking place under the centre-court roof in the middle of a ferocious thunderstorm.
Seeded third at Stanford, Bartoli received a bye into the second round. She then defeated Rebecca Marino 6–4, 6–3, to move into the quarterfinals, thus defending her points from 2010. She reached the semifinals when Ayumi Morita retired from their match after losing the first set 1–6. Bartoli earned a spot in the final after 8th seed Dominika Cibulková withdrew due to an abdominal injury.[12] In the final, Bartoli was defeated by Serena Williams, 5–7, 1–6. Bartoli held a 4–2 lead in the first set, before injuring her right hand. She even served for the first set at 5–4, but her game diminished to hand Williams her first title after her comeback from injury.
Bartoli entered the 2011 Rogers Cup in Toronto and lost in the first round 3–6, 3–6 to Kazakh qualifier Galina Voskoboeva. At the 2011 Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati, she beat Alona Bondarenko. 6–1, 6–2. but she lost in the second round to Daniela Hantuchova. 3–6, 7–5, 3–6. Due to her lack of match play before the US Open, Bartoli accepted a wildcard into the 2011 New Haven Open at Yale. She won her opening two rounds, defeating Anastasia Rodionova 6–1, 6–4, and Klara Zakopalova 6–2, 2–6, 6–1, before losing to Petra Cetkovska in the quarterfinals 5–7, 5–7.
At the 2011 US Open, Bartoli suffered another second-round exit. After defeating Alexandra Panova in the first round 7–5, 6–3, she lost to American teenager Christina McHale 6–7, 2–6.
Following her poor run in the United States, Bartoli's ranking dropped to no. 10, and her RACE ranking dropped to no. 8, causing her to increase her schedule to five tournaments during the Asia tour.
Seeded second at the 2011 Hansol Korea Open in Seoul, Bartoli defeated Nuria Llagostera Vives in the first round, 6–2, 6–2. Her second-round opponent was Vania King, who defeated her, 3–6, 5–7. Bartoli hit 17 double faults during the match.
Seeded seventh at the 2011 Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, Bartoli received a bye in the opening round, before defeating Ayumi Morita 6–3, 0–6, 6–3. She defeated Peng Shuai 6–2, 6–1, to reach the quarterfinals, where she was defeated by third seed Victoria Azarenka 5–7, 0–6.
Seeded eighth at the 2011 China Open, Bartoli defeated Iveta Benesova in the first round 3–6, 6–4, 7–5. In the second round, she cruised past Christina McHale, 6–2, 6–1. In the third round, she came up against ninth seed Andrea Petkovic. Bartoli built up a 6–4, 3–1 lead before losing 10 of the next 12 games to go 6–4, 4–6, 1–5 down. Bartoli battled back to 5–5, before losing two more games to lose the match 4–6, 6–4, 7–5, making her hopes of qualifying for the year-end championships uncertain.
At the 2011 HP Open in Osaka, Bartoli defeated Melinda Czink 6–2, 6–2, Vania King 6–1, 6–2, 6th seed Ayumi Morita 6–2, 6–1 and No.3 seed Angelique Kerber 6–1, 7–6 to reach the final. She took the title by defeating No.1 seed and US Open Champion Samantha Stosur 6–3, 6–1 in 1 hour 14 minutes. She then entered the 2011 Kremlin Cup in Moscow as the No.3 seed. She received a bye into the second round and defeated Ksenia Pervak 6–1, 6–1. Bartoli then withdrew from the tournament due to a viral illness.
Bartoli finished the year 9th in the race to the Year End Championships in Istanbul, thus earning a place as the first alternate player alongside Andrea Petkovic who finished 10th. Following the withdrawal of No.2 seed Maria Sharapova after her second of three matches, Bartoli took the place of Sharapova in the final match against Victoria Azarenka, which she won 5–7, 6–4, 6–4.
Due to winning the 2011 HP Open title, she qualified for the 2011 Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions in Bali, Indonesia. She was the No.1 seed but had to retire in her opening match against Anabel Medina Garrigues due to injuring her ankle at 6–4, 6–7, 0–1.
Bartoli finished the year ranked No.9 in the world with her best Win-Loss record of her career with 58–24. She reached an astonishing 15 quarterfinals, 8 semi-finals and 5 finals and won 2 titles (Eastbourne and Osaka), resulting in her best year financially, earning $1,722,863 in tournament prize money alone.
Bartoli competed for France alongside Richard Gasquet in the 2012 Hopman Cup. They defeated China 2–1, Australia 3–0 and Spain 2–0 to book a place in the final against the Czech Republic which they lost 0–2.
Ranked No.9, Bartoli entered her first WTA tournament of the year in Sydney and was seeded 8th. In the first round she defeated Polona Hercog 6–3, 6–3. In the second round she defeated Jelena Dokic 6–0, 6–3 to set up a quarterfinal clash with No.3 seed Victoria Azarenka. She lost 5–7, 4–6 despite being up a break in both sets.
At the 2012 Australian Open, Bartoli defeated compatriot Virginie Razzano 7–5, 6–0 in the first round, and Jelena Dokic 6–3, 6–2 in the second round. In the third round she was upset by Zheng Jie 6–3, 6–3. Despite the premature exit, Bartoli broke into the top eight in the rankings for the first time.
Ranked No.7, Bartoli was seeded 2nd behind Maria Sharapova for the 2012 Open GDF Suez in Paris, an indoor tournament commencing on 6th February. She received a bye into the second round where she defeated Petra Martic 7–5, 6–1. In the quarterfinals she defeated No.7 seed Roberta Vinci in a marathon match. Bartoli lost the first set and rallied back from a double break down in both the second and third sets to clinch a 4–6, 6–4, 7–6 victory. In the semifinals she defeated Klara Zakopalova 7–6, 6–0 but in the final she lost to No.9 seed Angelique Kerber 6–7, 7–5, 3–6.
In Doha, Bartoli was seeded fifth and advanced to the semi-finals by defeating Anabel Medina Garrigues 6–2, 6–0, Tsvetana Pironkova 6–3, 6–3 and Lucie Safarova 7–5, 4–6, 6–1. She retired due to an injury at 3–6, 0–0 against No.3 seed Samantha Stosur in the semi-finals.
At Indian Wells, Bartoli reached the quarterfinals by defeating Varvara Lepchenko, Chanelle Scheepers and Lucie Safarova. She fell to Ana Ivanovic 3–6, 4–6.
Seeded 7th in Miami, and armed with her new Prince EXO3 Warrior racket, Bartoli received a bye into the second round where she defeated Polona Hercog 5–7, 6–2, 6–1. In the third round she came back from a 2–5 deficit in the second set to defeat Simona Halep 6–4, 7–6. In the fourth round she crushed No.22 seed Maria Kirilenko 6–1, 6–2. Bartoli's big victory came in the quarterfinals where she defeated World No.1 Victoria Azarenka 6–3, 6–3, ending Azarenka's 26 match win streak. In the semi-finals she was defeated by No.5 seed Agnieszka Radwanska 6–4, 6–2.
At Charleston, Bartoli was seeded No.3 and received a bye into the second round where she defeated Vera Dushevina 6–2, 6–7(3), 6–4. In the third round she lost to Polona Hercog 6–4, 1–6, 6–4.
Ranked and seeded No.7, Bartoli entered the 2012 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix. In the first round she defeated qualifier Iveta Benesova 6–3, 6–2. Bartoli was then crushed 6–3, 6–1 by rising star Mona Barthel in the second round. Bartoli didn't perform any better at the 2012 Mutua Madrid Open where she was defeated by Sorana Cirstea 6–7(8), 6–4, 6–3 in the first round. Seeded 7th once again, Bartoli entered the 2012 Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome and got a bye into the second round where she lost 6–3, 6–1 to Julia Goerges. Bartoli then lost in the first round of Brussels to Urszula Radwanska 6–4, 6–2.
Bartoli dropped to No.8 in the world and was seeded 8th at the 2012 French Open in Paris, where she is defending semifinal points from last year. Having only won 1 match on red clay in 2012, Bartoli will play against qualifier Karolina Pliskova in the first round.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Marion Bartoli |
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Persondata | |
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Name | Bartoli, Marion |
Alternative names | |
Short description | French tennis player |
Date of birth | October 2, 1984 |
Place of birth | Geneva, Switzerland |
Date of death | |
Place of death |
(Stephens)
Just two minutes from the sea
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And guess which ones are on their honeymoon
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Home made marmalade for tea
Swimsuits hanging on the balcony.
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Down at the holiday inn.
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And they'll be people
Standin' in the bathroom queue
Don't let it happen to you.
Homemade marmalade for tea
Swimsuits hanging on the balcony.
If you can, get your tan.
Down at the holiday inn.
Come next year, I'll be here.
Down at the holiday inn
Down at the holiday inn