tennis | career

Career

In 2004, Sharapova became the third-youngest Wimbledon women's champion (after Lottie Dod and Martina Hingis) and second-youngest in the open era by defeating Ai Sugiyama (5-7, 7-5, 6-1) in the quarterfinals, Lindsay Davenport (2-6, 7-6, 6-1) in the semifinals, and two-time defending champion Serena Williams (6-1, 6-4) in the final. She also became the first Russian to win that tournament. Sharapova ended 2004 with a victory at the season-ending WTA Championships, defeating Williams (4-6, 6-2, 6-4) after coming back from an 0-4 final set deficit.

From June 2004 until her Wimbledon semifinal appearance in 2005, Sharapova had a 22-match winning streak on grass, including back-to-back Birmingham titles and the Wimbledon crown. Sharapova's success continued after winning Wimbledon, both on the court, making the semifinals of the 2005 Australian Open, holding 3 match points there before falling to Serena Williams 2-6, 7-5, 8-6, and off it, with numerous commercial endorsements.

Defending her Wimbledon title in 2005, Sharapova sailed through to the semifinals without losing a set, but then lost to a rejuvenated Venus Williams (7-6, 6-1). Sharapova's streak on grass was ended, as was her quest to dethrone No. 1 Davenport.

However, a back injury that Davenport sustained in the Wimbledon final meant that she could not defend the ranking points she obtained during the US hard court season of 2004. Sharapova was also suffering from an injury and did not complete a tournament during the season, but she had fewer points to defend and therefore rose to the No. 1 ranking on August 22, 2005. Her reign lasted only a week when Davenport re-ascended after winning the New Haven title. Sharapova rose to the No. 1 ranking again on September 12, 2005, despite losing in the semifinals of the US Open. Sharapova held on to the No. 1 ranking for a further six weeks before relinquishing it again to Davenport following the 2005 Zurich Open.

Sharapova's loss in a semifinal of the 2005 US Open against Kim Clijsters marked the fourth time that season she had lost at a Grand Slam tournament to the eventual champion: Australian Open-SF-Serena Williams, French Open-QF-Justine Henin-Hardenne, Wimbledon-SF-Venus Williams, US Open-SF-Kim Clijsters. That streak was broken in January 2006, when Sharapova lost in an Australian Open semifinal to Henin-Hardenne, who lost in the final to Amélie Mauresmo.

On March 18, 2006, Sharapova, as No. 3 seed, claimed her first title of the year at the Pacific Life Open at Indian Wells (a Tier 1 event), defeating No. 4 seed Elena Dementieva in the final, 6-1 6-2. This was the 11th title of her career. Sharapova and Dementieva were the first Russians to reach the final of that event. Soon after, Sharapova reached the final of the Nasdaq-100 Open, losing to Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-4, 6-3. An ankle injury required two months' break and her withdrawal from events in Rome and Istanbul.

Sharapova decided to participate at the 2006 French Open despite having not played any clay court tune-ups. After saving three match points in the first round against Mashona Washington, Sharapova was eliminated in the fourth round by Dinara Safina 7-5, 2-6, 7-5, after Sharapova led 5-1 in the third set. Sharapova lost 18 of the match's last 21 points.

Sharapova welcomed the onset of the grass season but failed to add a third successive Birmingham title to her collection, losing in the semifinals to American Jamea Jackson.

For the second consecutive year, Sharapova was defeated in the semifinals of Wimbledon, losing to eventual winner Mauresmo 6-3, 3-6, 6-2. Sharapova currently has a 2-5 record in Grand Slam semifinals. Sharapova is currently ranked No. 3 in the world. Sharapova has a combined 3-7 record against the top 2 players in the world (1-3 against Mauresmo and 2-4 against Henin-Hardenne). She is 1-4 against Clijsters, another former world No. 1.

Sharapova claimed her second title of 2006 as the second seed at the Acura Classic in San Diego, defeating top seeded Clijsters, 7-5 7-5. This was Sharapova's first victory over Clijsters in five meetings.

Sharapova entered the 2006 U.S. Open seeded third after Clijsters dropped out of the tournament. Considered one of the favorites to reach the final, she lived up to expectations defeating Mauresmo, the number one player in the world, in a semifinal 6-0, 4-6, 6-0. It was the first time in the open era, which began in 1968, that a female semifinalist in the US Open lost two sets at love. Sharapova was victorious in the final, beating Henin-Hardenne 6-4, 6-4 to win her second Grand Slam title, 13th tournament of her career, and third tournament of the year.

Awards

2003

WTA Newcomer of the Year
Hottest female athlete of the year (Maxim)
2004

WTA Player of the Year
WTA Most Improved Player of the Year
WTA Player Service
Hottest female athlete of the year (Maxim)
2005

ESPY Best Female Tennis Player
Named the country's best female player for the year by Russia's tennis federation
Awarded the honorary Master of Sports of Russia title.
Hottest female athlete of the year (Maxim)
2006

Hottest female athlete of the year (Maxim)

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