Maria Sharapova's Career Info.

Career

Career Prize Money US$5,698,885
Singles
Career record: 206-53
Career titles: 11
Highest ranking: 1 (22 August 2005)
Grand Slam results
Australian Open SF (2005, 2006)
French Open QF (2004, 2005)
Wimbledon W (2004)
U.S. Open SF (2005)
Doubles
Career record: 27-6
Career titles: 3
Highest ranking: No. 41 (14 June 2004)

In 2004, after a spectacular run, which included three-set wins over Ai Sugiyama (5-7, 7-5, 6-1) and Lindsay Davenport (2-6, 7-6, 6-1), Sharapova became the third youngest Wimbledon women's champion (after Lottie Dod and Martina Hingis) and second youngest in the Open Era by defeating defending two-time champion Serena Williams in straight sets (6-1, 6-4). She also became the first Russian ever to win that tournament. Sharapova followed it up with a victory at the season-ending WTA Championships, defeating Serena Williams again by a score of 4-6, 6-2, 6-4. In the final set, she came back from a defecit of 4-0.

From June 2004 until her Wimbledon semi-final appearance in 2005, Sharapova had a 22-match winning streak on grass, including back-to-back Birmingham titles and the Wimbledon crown. Sharapova's huge success continued after winning Wimbledon, both on the court and off with numerous endorsements following.

Maria Sharapova at Indian Wells in 2005Defending her Wimbledon title in 2005 looked to be a simple enough task at first, with Sharapova sailing through to the semi-finals without losing a set. However, she dropped her first set of the tournament against a rejuvenated Venus Williams and lost the match 6-7 1-6. Sharapova's streak on grass was ended, as was her quest for the No. 1 ranking, with Lindsay Davenport, who lost an historic match to Venus Williams in the Wimbledon final, retaining that position.

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

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

On March 18, 2006, Sharapova, as No. 3 seed, claimed her first title of the year at the Pacific Life Open at Indian Wells (a Tier 1 event), defeating No.4 seed Elena Dementieva in the final, 6-1 6-2. This was the 11th title of her career. Sharapova was the first Russian to reach the final of the Pacific Life Open. As Dementieva reached the final later, surprisingly defeating Justine Henin-Hardenne, this was the first-ever all-Russian final at the event. Soon after, Sharapova reached the final of the Nasdaq-100 losing to Svetlana Kuznetsova 4-6, 3-6. She then took 2 months off because of an ankle injury, resulting in her pulling out of events in Rome and Istanbul.

Sharapova decided to participate at the 2006 French Open despite having not played any clay court tune-ups. After saving three match points in the first round against Mashona Washington, Sharapova was eliminated in the fourth round by Dinara Safina, blowing a lead of 5-1 in the third set, and losing 18 of the last 21 points to lose 5-7, 6-2, 5-7. She welcomed the onset of the grass season, but failed to add a third successive Birmingham title to her collection, losing in the semi-finals to the inexperienced American player Jamea Jackson.

For the second consecutive year, Sharapova was defeated in the semi-finals of The Championships, Wimbledon, losing to eventual winner Amélie Mauresmo 6-3, 3-6, 6-2. Sharapova currently has a 1-5 record in Grand Slam semi-finals. Sharapova is currently ranked No. 4 in the world.