The FA Cup Final, commonly referred to in England as just the Cup Final, is the last match in the Football Association Challenge Cup. With an official attendance of 89,826 at the 2007 FA Cup Final, it is the fourth best attended domestic club championship event in the world and the second most attended domestic football event. It is the culmination of a knockout competition among clubs belonging to The Football Association in England, although Scottish and Irish teams competed in the early years and Welsh teams regularly compete, with Cardiff City winning the Cup in 1927 and reaching the final in 2008.

Early FA Cup Finals were held at various venues including Fallowfield Stadium but were mainly in London. In the period from 1923 until 2000, the final was held at Wembley Stadium, English football's national stadium. From 2001–2005, the final was moved to the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, during the rebuilding of Wembley Stadium. The Millennium Stadium was used again in 2006 due to construction delays in opening the new Wembley Stadium.

Until 1993, if the final could not be decided in a single match, the match would be replayed. After only six replays since 1923, The Football Association then decided that all future finals would be decided 'on the day', putting an end to FA Cup Final replays. This meant that a draw at the end of normal time would be followed by thirty minutes of extra time (two fifteen minute halves); if scores were still level there would be a penalty shootout to determine the winner of the competition. Only two FA Cup Finals have been decided by a penalty shootout; those of 2005 and 2006. Note that the Football League War Cup is not considered part of the official FA Cup competition.

Stan Mortensen's hat-trick for Blackpool in 1953 remains the only hat trick ever scored at Wembley in the competition's final. Everton's Louis Saha scored a goal after 27.9 seconds in the 2009 FA Cup Final. It is currently the fastest goal in FA Cup Final history. Bury's 6-0 victory over Derby County in 1903 FA Cup Final is the largest winning margin.

The FA Cup Final is one of ten events reserved for live broadcast on UK terrestrial television under the Ofcom Code on Sports and Other Listed and Designated Events.

Winners

''For a full list of FA Cup winners and runners-up, see List of FA Cup winners''

See also

FA Cup Final referees

FA Cup Semi-finals

Footnotes

References

Full results history at rsssf.com

Archive of almost every result at SoccerBase.com

Post-war finals at sporting-heroes.net

External links

The 10 greatest FA Cup Final goals at midfield dynamo classic football website

Finals

el:Κύπελλο Αγγλίας

Coordinates	12°58′0″N77°34′0″N
name	Svetlana Kuznetsova Светла́на Кузнецо́ва
nickname	''Sveta'', ''Kuzzy'', ''Kuzya''
country
residence	Saint Petersburg, Russia
birth date	June 27, 1985
birth place	Leningrad, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
height
weight
turnedpro	2000
plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
careerprizemoney	$15,828,162
singlesrecord	440–195
singlestitles	13 WTA, 1 ITF
highestsinglesranking	No. 2 (September 10, 2007)
currentsinglesranking	No. 17 (August 29, 2011)
australianopenresult	QF (2005, 2009)
frenchopenresult	W (2009)
wimbledonresult	QF (2003, 2005, 2007)
usopenresult	W (2004)
othertournaments	yes
olympicssresult	QF (2004)
wtachampionshipsresult	RR (2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009)
doublesrecord	209–87
doublestitles	14 WTA
highestdoublesranking	No. 3 (June 7, 2004)
grandslamsdoublesresults	yes
australianopendoublesresult	W (2005)
frenchopendoublesresult	F (2004)
wimbledondoublesresult	F (2005)
usopendoublesresult	F (2003, 2004)
othertournamentsdoubles	yes
wtachampionshipsdoublesresult	SF (2003, 2004)
olympicsdoublesresult	QF (2008)
updated	August 29, 2011 }}

Svetlana Aleksandrovna Kuznetsova (}}); born June 27, 1985) is a Russian professional tennis player and as of August 29, 2011 ranked No. 17 in the WTA singles and and No. 92 in the doubles ranking. Kuznetsova has appeared in four singles Grand Slam finals, winning two, and has also appeared in six doubles finals, winning once. She has qualified five times for the round-robin stage of the WTA Tour Championships but has never qualified for the semifinals.

Her first Grand Slam title came at the 2004 US Open, making her the third Russian woman to win a Grand Slam title, after Anastasia Myskina and Maria Sharapova who won at the 2004 French Open and 2004 Wimbledon tournaments respectively. Kuznetzova's second Grand Slam title was the 2009 French Open, defeating Serena Williams in the quarterfinal, Samantha Stosur in the semifinal, and compatriot Dinara Safina in the final in straight sets. At the 2006 French Open and the 2007 US Open singles tournament she was the runner-up, both times to Belgian player Justine Henin. As a result, Kuznetsova obtained her new WTA ranking of No. 2, her best to that date. Kuznetsova has won a total of 13 WTA and 1 ITF singles titles and 14 WTA doubles titles to date and US$15,792,587 in prize money, making her the second top Russian earner on court and number 11 of all female tennis players to date and No. 5 of active players, after only Serena Williams, Venus Williams, Kim Clijsters, and Maria Sharapova respectively.

Early life

Svetlana Aleksandrovna Kuznetsova was born in Leningrad. Her father, Aleksandr Kuznetsov, has coached five Olympic and world cycling champions. Kuznetsova's mother, Galina Tsareva, is a six-time world champion and holder of 20 world records in cycling, and her brother, Nikolay Kuznetsov, was a silver medalist at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta and coach of the Russian cycling team Lokomotiv. Svetlana Kuznetsova began to play tennis at the age of 7 and moved to Spain 6 years later for better training and coaching. While there she became fluent in Spanish.

Career

2000: ITF Junior Career

Kuznetsova debuted in her first International Tennis Federation (ITF) tournament in Mallorca on January 31. In the first round she defeated Katia Altilia from Italy in two straight sets, 6–0, 6–4. However, she lost in the quarter final to Oana–Elena Golimbioschi, 7–5, 6–1. Her next appearance was in Talence in April. She defeated Aurore Desertin in the first round, but lost in the second round to Berengere Karpenschif, both from France. In Minsk, Belarus, in a tournament using the short sets scoring system, she reached the quarter final, after defeating the unranked Vera Zvonareva in the first round in four sets, 5–3, 4–2, 4–5(4), 4–2, and Daria Panova in three sets, 5–3, 4–2, 4–1 in the second round. In the quarter final she lost to 574th ranked Elena Voropaeva in four sets, 5–4(5), 5–4(4), 4–2, after losing two tie breaks in the two earlier sets. However, Kuznetsova was ranked in the top 900, receiving her first ranking below 889. She moved to Mallorca again and joined the Mallorca 3 tournament. Kuznetsova lost in the first round to Dinara Safina after winning the first set, 4–5(0), 4–1, 4–1, 4–0. Subsequently, she moved down to 891. Her last tournament this year was again in Mallorca, but now played in a minimum of four sets. In the Round of 32 she defeated Silvia Disderi, 4–2, 4–1, 3–5, 3–5, 4–2. However, she fell to 8th seeded Mihaela Moldovan in the last round, 4–2, 0–4, 5–4(5), 4–2. She ended the season ranked 889.

2001–2002

Kuznetsova began playing in tournaments on the ITF Circuit in 2000, winning her first title on the circuit in April 2001. Her first appearances in the main draws of tournaments on the main WTA Tour were at the Madrid Open in May of that year and at the Waikoloa Championships in Waikoloa, Hawaii, losing in the second round on both occasions. She finished the year 2001 ranked 259.

Kuznetsova made her debut in the main draw of a Grand Slam at the 2002 Australian Open, where, as a qualifier, she reached the second round before losing to 16th seed Iroda Tulyaganova. However, she lost in the qualifying rounds of both the French Open and Wimbledon.

As a qualifier at the clay-court Nordea Nordic Light Open in Helsinki, Finland in August, Kuznetsova won her first WTA singles title, defeating World No.  24 Patty Schnyder in the quarterfinals for her first win over a top 40 player, before defeating Denisa Chládková in the final. Kuznetsova entered the top 100 for the first time as a result of that victory. Kuznetsova qualified for the US Open, defeating 19th seed Anne Kremer in the first round for her first win over a top 20 player, before losing in the third round to 13th seed Silvia Farina Elia. In September, Kuznetsova won her second title at the hard court Commonwealth Bank Tennis Classic in Bali, Indonesia, defeating former Grand Slam champions Arantxa Sánchez Vicario and Conchita Martínez. Also during 2002, she teamed up with Sánchez Vicario to win the first WTA doubles titles of her career, in Sopot, Poland, Helsinki and Kōtō, Japan. Kuznetsova finished the season as World No.  43 in singles.

2003

Kuznetsova began her season at the Brisbane International. She received a wild card, but fell in the first round in the singles to Elena Bovina, 7–5, 6–4. At the doubles competition she paired with Martina Navratilova, with whom she would later play throughout the year (except on the Pacific Life Open, partnered with Slovak Janette Husárová), and won against Nathalie Dechy and Emilie Loit in straight sets, 6–4, 6–4. In the Australian Open she lost to second seed Venus Williams in the first round, 4–6, 2–6. With Navratilova, they lost against 9th seed Daniela Hantuchová/Chanda Rubin in the 3rd Round, 4–6, 6–3, 5–7. In the singles event of the Dubai Tennis Championships in February, Kuznetsova managed the first round against 6th seeded Francesca Schiavone, but was beaten by Dinara Safina in the second round, 6–4, 6–3, and in the doubles event the first round before being beaten by runner-ups María Vento-Kabchi and Angelique Widjaja. She did not reach the quarterfinals of any tournaments during the first half of the year. Kuznetsova's win over World No.  11 Anastasia Myskina in the second round of the Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, California was her first over a top-10 player this year.

In the first round of the French Open, Kuznetsova lost to Meghann Shaughnessy 3–6, 7–5, 11–9. Kuznetsova's came at Wimbledon, where in the fourth round, she defeated Maria Sharapova to reach her first Grand Slam quarterfinal, losing to third seed Justine Henin. At the doubles, they were defeated by Kim Clijsters and partner Ai Sugiyama. She then made her first semifinal of the year at the Acura Classic in San Diego before losing to Henin. At the US Open singles tournament, Kuznetsova lost in the third round to top seed Kim Clijsters. However, at the doubles competition she again partnered with Navratilova, but was beaten by Paola Suárez and Virginia Ruano Pascual in the final, 6–2 6–3. She joined the Sparkassen Cup, losing to 5th seeded Daniela Hantuchová in the first round. Kuznetsova won the doubles title against Elena Likhovtseva and Nadia Petrova, 3–6 6–1 6–3. In the doubles competition at the Ladies Kremlin Cup they reached the semifinals before losing to Russian couple and runner-ups Anastasia Myskina and Vera Zvonareva, 6–7(8) 6–2 6–4. Her last appearance this year was at the Tour Championships. In the first round they lost to champions Virginia Ruano Pascual and Paola Suárez, 6–4 6–4. She finished the season as World No.  36.

2004

Kuznetsova reached the third round of the singles competition at the Australian Open before losing to top seed Justine Henin. She reached her second Grand Slam doubles final with new partner Elena Likhovtseva before losing to Virginia Ruano Pascual and Paola Suárez. Several weeks later, playing singles at Dubai, Kuznetsova defeated former World No.  1 Venus Williams 6–2, 6–3 in the quarterfinals before defeating World No.  8 Ai Sugiyama in the semifinals for her first win over a top 10 player. Kuznetsova lost to World No.  1 Henin. The following week, Kuznetsova defeated Henin for the first time in the semifinals of the Qatar Total Open in Doha, Qatar, before losing in the final to Myskina in three sets, pushing her into the top 20 for the first time. In April, Kuznetsova reached her third singles final of the year at the start of the clay-court season at the J&S Cup in Warsaw, losing there to Venus Williams in the final. Kuznetsova had climbed to No. 11 by the time of the French Open. There, she reached the fourth round before losing to champion Myskina 1–6, 6–4, 8–6, after holding a match point in the third. In doubles Kuznetsova and Likhovtseva reached the final, losing to Suarez and Ruano Pascual. Following the French Open, Kuznetsova climbed to career-highs of World No.  9 in the singles rankings, her first time in the top ten, and World No.  3 in the doubles rankings. Kuznetsova won her third title at the Hastings Direct International Championships in Eastbourne, defeating Hantuchová in the final. At Wimbledon itself, Kuznetsova suffered a first-round loss to 118–ranked Virginie Razzano.

Representing Russia at the Olympics in August, Kuznetsova reached the quarterfinals before losing to silver-medallist Amélie Mauresmo. She went into the US Open seeded ninth. There, she defeated 14th seed Petrova in the quarterfinals, and in her first Grand Slam semifinal, defeated fifth seed and former champion Davenport 1–6, 6–4, 6–2, ending the American's 22-match winning streak. In the final, Kuznetsova defeated sixth seed Dementieva 6–3, 7–5. Kuznetsova was the first female Russian to win the US Open and the third to win any Grand Slam singles title, following the successes of Myskina and Maria Sharapova earlier in the year. Meanwhile, Kuznetsova teamed with Likhovtseva to reach the final of the doubles tournament before losing there to Suarez and Ruano Pascual, marking Kuznetsova's fourth consecutive defeat to the pair in Grand Slams. Kuznetsova continued her success by winning the Commonwealth Bank Tennis Classic in Bali, Indonesia defeating Marlene Weingärtner in the final. This increased her ranking to a new high of World No.  5. The following week, at the China Open in Beijing, Kuznetsova defeated Wimbledon champion Sharapova in the semifinals 6–2, 6–2 to extend her winning streak to 14 matches. However, she lost in the final to Serena Williams. Making her debut at the season-ending WTA Championships in Los Angeles, Kuznetsova lost two of three matches in the preliminary round-robin stage and exited before the semifinals. Kuznetsova finished the season as World No.  5.

2005

Kuznetsova began the year by reaching the quarterfinals of the Australian Open, losing to fourth seed Sharapova in three. Kuznetsova teamed with Molik to win her first Grand Slam doubles title, defeating Davenport and Corina Morariu. In the first round she received a bye at the Toray Pan Pacific Open, but she was defeated by runner-up Lindsay Davenport in the semfinal, 6–1 7–6(2). Kuznetsova did not reach any finals during the spring hard-court season, with defeats including one to World No.  97 Sania Mirza in the first round at Dubai. She received a bye at the Pacific Life Open and reached the quarterfinal. There, she lost to Elena Dementieva, 3–6 6–3 7–5. She joined the next event, the NASDAQ-100 Open in Miami, and succeeded to the 4th Round after receiving a bye in the 1st Round. However, there she was defeated by Ana Ivanović, 6–3, 3–6, 7–5.

She made her first final of the year at the J&S Cup in Warsaw, defeating former World No.  1 Clijsters in the semis. In the final, Kuznetsova lost to Henin. At the French Open, Kuznetsova lost again to champion Henin in the fourth round 7–6(6), 4–6, 7–5, having saved a match point in the third set. Kuznetsova reached the quarterfinals of for her second time before losing to top seed Davenport. However, she teamed up with Mauresmo to reach her sixth Grand Slam doubles final, losing there to Cara Black and Liezel Huber.

At the US Open, she lost to World No.  97 Ekaterina Bychkova in the first round, becoming the first female defending US Open champion to lose in the first round. This defeat dropped her out of the top ten. She defeated Zvonareva in the quarterfinal of the Kremlin Cup but was beaten by Francesca Schiavone in the semifinal, 6–3, 6–1. At the $1,300,000 Zurich Open Kuznetsova lost in the first round to the unseeded Nathalie Dechy, 6–4 4–6 7–6(3). She finished the year ranked World No.  18.

2006

Kuznetsova started her season this year in the Australian Open and reached the fourth round before losing there to top seed Davenport. Several weeks later, Kuznetsova rebounded at Dubai, defeating World No.  2 Mauresmo in the quarterfinals for her first win over a top ten player since 2004. She then lost to Henin in the semifinals. In March, Kuznetsova defeated former World No.  1 Martina Hingis in the third round of the NASDAQ-100 Open in Miami, before going on to defeat World No.  1 Mauresmo 6–1, 6–4 in the semifinals. In the final, she defeated Sharapova to win the first Tier I title of her career and her first singles title of any kind in 18 months. This win returned her to the top ten.

Kuznetsova reached her second final of the year at the clay-court J&S Cup in Warsaw, defeating Williams en route. In the final, she lost to World No.  2 Clijsters, marking third consecutive runner-up finish. At the French Open, Kuznetsova reached the quarterfinals for the first time, where she defeated 14th seed Safina. In the semifinals, she defeated 17 year old Czech Nicole Vaidišová 5–7, 7–6 (5), 6–2 after saving a match point. In her second Grand Slam final, Kuznetsova lost to Henin 6–4, 6–4. Kuznetsova reached only the third round at Wimbledon, losing to 27th seed Li Na, 3–6 6–2 6–3.

At the US Open Kuznetsova lost in the fourth round to 19th seed Jelena Janković, 6–7(5) 6–3 6–2. In September, Kuznetsova won her second title of the year at the $225,000 donated tournament Commonwealth Bank Tennis Classic in Bali, defeating Davenport in the semifinals and Marion Bartoli in the final. The following week, she won the China Open in Beijing, after defeating World No.  1 Mauresmo 6–4, 6–0 in the final. This marked the first time Kuznetsova had won back-to-back tournaments.

Competing at the season-ending WTA Championships for the second time in Madrid, Kuznetsova again failed to advance past the preliminary round-robin stage, winning just one of three matches. She finished the season as World No.  4.

2007

Kuznetsova began the year by losing in the fourth round of the Australian Open to 16th seed Pe'er. She rebounded to reach her first final of the year in February at the Qatar Total Open in Doha Qatar, losing there to Henin in two sets, 6–4, 7–5. She then made the final of the Tier I Pacific Life Open at Indian Wells, but then lost to Hantuchová. Reaching the final improved her ranking to third, a career high.

Kuznetsova continued on form during the clay-courts season. At the J&S Cup in Warsaw, she defeated V. Williams for the first time in her career in the quarterfinals before losing to Alona Bondarenko in the semifinals. She made the final of another Tier I tournament, at the Qatar Telecom German Open in Berlin, after defeating World No.  1 Henin for only the second time in the semifinals. In the final, Kuznetsova lost to Ana Ivanović. The following week, Kuznetsova reached the final of the Tier I Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome, losing there to Janković. As the third seed at the French Open, Kuznetsova advanced to the quarterfinals without dropping a set but lost there to runner-up Ivanović 6–0, 3–6, 6–1. Kuznetsova reached the quarterfinals of Wimbledon for the third time in July, but lost there to champion Venus Williams 6–3, 6–4.

In August, Kuznetsova won her first title of the year at the Pilot Pen Tennis tournament in New Haven, after three of her opponents retired due to injury or illness, including her finals opponent Ágnes Szávay. At the US Open, Kuznetsova defeated sixth seed Anna Chakvetadze in the semifinals to advance to her third Grand Slam final. She lost to Henin 6–1, 6–3. As a result of this run, Kuznetsova reached World No.  2.

At the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Germany, Kuznetsova recorded her first career win over Serena Williams before losing in the semifinals to Tatiana Golovin. The following week, she lost to Serena Williams in the semifinals of the Kremlin Cup. Kuznetsova completed the year by competing at the year-ending Championships in Madrid, but once again failed to progress beyond the preliminary round-robin stage, losing all three matches. She finished the season as World No.  2 and as the highest-ranked Russian player for the first time.

2008

Kuznetsova began the season by reaching the final at the Medibank International in Sydney, losing there to World No.  1 Henin in the final set. At the Australian Open, Kuznetsova was seeded second, but fell in the third round to 29th seed Agnieszka Radwańska. Kuznetsova made her second final of the season in Dubai, defeating former World No.  1 Mauresmo in the quarterfinals and World No.  4 Janković in the semifinals. However, in the final, Kuznetsova lost to Elena Dementieva. At the Tier I Pacific Life Open in March, Kuznetsova defeated Radwańska in the quarterfinals before defeating Australian Open champion Sharapova in the semifinals. In the final, Kuznetsova lost to top-seeded Ivanović, 4–6, 3–6. This marked her eighth defeat in her nine most recent appearances in finals. At the Tier I Sony Ericsson Open the next fortnight, Kuznetsova defeated Venus Williams in the quarterfinals but then lost to Serena Williams 3–6, 7–5, 6–3 in the semifinals.

Kuznetsova's form dipped following the conclusion of the spring hard-court season, as she won just three of five matches on clay leading up to the French Open. She advanced to the semifinals without dropping a set, but then lost to Safina 6–3, 6–2. At Wimbledon, Kuznetsova lost in the fourth round to Radwańska 6–4, 1–6, 7–5, after leading by a break in the third set.

In the summer, she competed at the Beijing Olympics, losing to Li Na in the first round. In the US Open she fell to Katarina Srebotnik in the third round in three sets, 6–3, 6–7(1), 6–3. After the latter loss, she dropped out of the top five on the world rankings for the first time in two years. The following week, Kuznetsova made her first final since March at the Tier I Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, defeating World No.  2 Janković in the quarterfinals before going on to lose to Safina 6–1, 6–3 in the final. The following week, Kuznetsova reached the final at the China Open in Beijing, but lost there to Janković 6–3, 6–2. This marked Kuznetsova's 10 defeat in her last 11 finals.

She mirrored her earlier performance at the season-ending WTA Championships in Doha, Qatar, losing all three of her matches. Kuznetsova finished the year ranked World No.  8, the only woman in the top ten not to have won a title that year.

2009

At the Australian Open, Kuznetsova reached the quarterfinals for the second time in her career, but lost there to champion Serena Williams 5–7, 7–5, 6–1, after approaching with two points of winning in the second set. After that, Kuznetsova did not win another match for nearly two months. She broke the losing streak at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, reaching the semifinals before losing there to Victoria Azarenka. At the Porsche Tennis Grand Pris in Stuttgart, Kuznetsova defeated World No.  3 Dementieva 6–4, 6–2 in the semfinals to reach her first final that year. There, she defeated World No.  1 Safina 6–4, 6–3 to win her first singles title since August 2007. The following week, Kuznetsova also reached the final at the Premier 5 Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome, having defeated World No.  4 Janković en route. She lost the championship to Safina 6–3, 6–2. In the semifinals of the French Open, Kuznetsova defeated Samantha Stosur to reach her fourth Grand Slam final, where she defeated top seed Safina 6–4, 6–2 to win her second Grand Slam title. At Wimbledon, Kuznetsova fell in the third round to unseeded German Sabine Lisicki.

She pulled out of the LA Women's Tennis Championships, citing a foot injury. Her next event was the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters and Women's Open, where she felled to Clijsters in the third round, 6–4, 4–6, 6–2. She then played in the Rogers Cup and fell to Stosur in the second round. She received a wild card entrance to the Pilot Pen Tennis tournament in New Haven, but lost in the quarterfinals to Mauresmo. At the US Open she won in straight set wins over Gorges, Sevatsova, and Peer, but lost against Caroline Wozniacki in the fourth round. At the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, seeded fifth, she lost to Andrea Petkovic.

The week later, she played at China Open as the sixth seed. She advanced to the final beating Petrova in the semifinal and then faced Agnieszka Radwańska in the final, winning 6–2, 6–4. Soon after, she played at the WTA Tour Championships in Doha, Qatar. She entered the Maroon group along with Dementieva, Serena Williams and Venus Williams. She lost both her matches against the Williams Sisters, 6(6)-7, 5–7 against Serena despite having 2 set points in the first set, and 2–6, 7–6(3), 4–6 against Venus. She, however, defeated Dementieva, breaking her 8–match losing streak at the Championships. Kuznetsova ended the year ranked No. 3.

2010

Kuznetsova began the year at the Medibank International Sydney. She defeated Alisa Kleybanova in the first round before falling to Dominika Cibulková in the second round. Kuznetsova was seeded 3rd for the Australian Open. She advanced to the 4th round, losing 3–6, 6–3, 1–6, to No. 19 Petrova. Following the tournament, Kuznetsova fell to World No.  4. Kuznetsova was seeded 2nd for the Dubai Tennis Championships but fell in a 3rd round upset to qualifier and World No.  99 Regina Kulikova 7–5, 6–7(2), 4–6. At the Billie Jean King Cup, Kuznetsova lost her match 6–4 to Williams. As the top seed due to Serena Williams and Safina's withdrawal at the BNP Paribas Open she was upset by Carla Suárez Navarro, 4–6 6–4 1–6 in the second round after receiving a first round bye. Kuznetsova was seeded No. 1 once again at the Sony Ericsson Open and after receiving a bye in the first round, managed to prevent another upset by defeating Peng Shuai in the second round 6–2, 3–6, 6–4. She then defeated 27th seed Ágnes Szávay 6–2, 6–3 to book a fourth round encounter with 13th seed Bartoli, losing to the French No. 1 6–3, 6–0 in the quarterfinal.

Kuznetsova was the defending champion at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, but fell to Li Na in the second round, 6–3 7–5, after defeating Srebotnik. At the Internazionali BNL d'Italia, where she had reached the final the year before, she lost in the second round to Maria Kirilenko 6–2, 3–6, 6–4, after receiving a first round bye. As the defending champion at the French Open, Kuznetsova was the 6th seed. She defeated Sorana Cîrstea 6–3, 6–1 in the first round and faced Petkovic in the second round, whom she defeated 4–6, 7–5, 6–4. In the third round she lost to 30th seeded Kirilenko, 3–6, 6–2, 4–6. Kuznetsova advanced to the quarterfinals of the AEGON International, losing to Ekaterina Makarova. Kuznetsova was seeded 19th at the Wimbledon. She defeated Akgul Amanmuradova in the first round, 6–2 6–7(5) 6–4, before falling to Anastasia Rodionova in the second round, 6–4 2–6 6–4.

Kuznetsova rallied by winning the Mercury Insurance Open in San Diego. She defeated Yanina Wickmayer, Sara Errani, Coco Vandeweghe, and Flavia Pennetta in route to the final where she won in three sets against Agnieszka Radwańska. She then played at the Western & Southern Financial Group Women's Open in Cincinnati in a losing effort to Sharapova 6–4, 1–6, 6–2 in the first round. At the Rogers Cup, Kuznetsova defeated Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 7–5, 4–6, 6–1, Timea Bacsinszky 7–6(6), 6–4, 7th seed Radwańska 6–4, 1–6, 6–3 and Zheng Jie 6–1, 6–3 before falling to Wozniacki in the semifinals. Kuznetsova was seeded 11th at the US Open. She defeated Kimiko Date Krumm, Anastasija Sevastova, and 23rd seed Kirilenko before falling in the 4th round to unseeded Cibulková. Kuznetsova was the 10th seed at the Toray Pan Pacific Open, but fell to Petkovic in the second round.

As the defending champion, Kuznetsova fell in the first round of the Premier tournament China Open to Roberta Vinci. She finished the year ranked World No.  27, her lowest since 2003.

2011

Kuznetsova's first tournament of 2011 was the ASB Classic Open in Auckland, New Zealand where she was the third seed. She fell to Peng Shuai in the second, although initially up a set. She then headed to Sydney for the Medibank International Sydney where she lost in the quarterfinals to eight-seeded Li. Kuznetsova was seeded 23rd at the Australian Open where she lost in the fourth round to No. 6 seed Schiavone, squandering six match points. The match was the longest recorded women's Grand Slam match in the Open Era, with a final scoreline of 6–4, 1–6, 16–14. It was the second-longest women's match in the Open Era at any tournament. Her next tournament was the Dubai Tennis Championships. The 16th seed set up a date in the final with Caroline Wozniacki by beating Flavia Pennetta in the semifinal, 6–4, 6–4. However, Kuznetsova was defeated by the top-seed, 1–6, 3–6. In doubles, she teamed up with Vera Zvonareva, and in the semifinal the pair disrupted the match between 2nd seed Liezel Huber and María José Martínez Sánchez due to a right elbow injury Zvonareva had received before. Subsequently Huber/Sanchez received a walkover. She lost in the Qatar Ladies Open tournament against 8th seed Shahar Pe'er in the first round, 2–6, 4–6. As an 11th seed, Kuznetsova received a bye in the 2nd Round at the BNP Paribas Open, but were defeated by wildcard Christina McHale, 6–7(4), 6–7(7). At the doubles event, Kuznetsova teamed up with Vera Zvonareva. They received a wildcard in the first round, but were defeated by 4th seed King/Shvedova, 2–6, 3–6. In the singles tournament of the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, Svetlana Kuznetsova was 11th-seeded. Alike in the prior tournament, seeded players starts in the second round. There, Simona Halep was her opponent, who she beat in two sets, 6–0, 6–4. Her next opponent was Peng Shuai, whom she has lost, 3–6, 1–6. At the doubles tournament, again with Zvonareva and a wildcard entry, they defeated Alexandra Dulgheru and Magdaléna Rybáriková in the first round, 6–4, 6–2. In the second round they lost against María José Martínez Sánchez and Anabel Medina Garrigues, 1–6, 4–6.

She was seeded second at the 2011 Andalucia Tennis Experience after receiving a wildcard. She succeeded to move to the semifinal where she lost against qualifier Irina-Camelia Begu, 6–3, 6–7(3), 4–6. She failed to succeed into the second round in both the Madrid Open and Internationali BNL d'Italia, against Dominika Cibulková in the former and against Gréta Arn in the latter tournament. In Madrid she partnered with Zvonareva and received a wildcard. They moved into the second round, but lost against King/Shvedova. Kuznetsova was seeded 13th at the French Open singles event where she lost against Marion Bartoli in the quarterfinal, her first in a Grand Slam tournament since 2009, 6–7(7), 4–6. At the doubles event she paired with Zvonareva and defeated unseeded Klaudia Jans and Alicja Rosolska from Poland. They lost against third seeds King/Shvedova, 6–3, 1–6, 6–3. She lost against Dominika Cibulková in the quarterfinal of the UNICEF Open. At the Wimbledon singles tournament she defeated Zhang Shuai and Alexandra Dulgheru, but lost against Yanina Wickmayer.

Fed Cup participation

Kuznetsova joined team Russia in 2004 in the doubles and singles competition. Her teammates were Myskina and Zvonareva in singles and Likhovtseva (with Kuznetsova) in doubles. They competed against Australia in the first round in the Luzhniki Stadium in an indoor carpet court. Kuznetsova defeated Molik, 6–4, 3–6, 6–4 and Molik/Rennae Stubbs 6–7(0), 6–3, 6–2. The end result was 4–1 for Russia; Myskina lost to Molik, 3–6, 3–6. In the quarterfinal they faced Argentina in Buenos Aires. Kuznetsova lost to Gisela Dulko, 4–6, 6–3, 4–6. In the doubles she defeated Dulko and partner Patricia Tarabini, 6–2, 5–7, 6–4. The final score was the same as in the first round, 4–1. In the semifinal they faced Austria. Again in Moscow, Kuznetsova defeated Yvonne Meusburger, Daniela Kix and Meusburger and Patricia Wartusch all in straight sets, 6–1, 6–1; 6–1, 6–1; 6–2, 6–2. The final stand was a straight 5–0. In the final they faced France only 3 days after the semifinal. Kuznetsova beat Dechy, but lost to Tatiana Golovin, 4–6, 1–6. Russia won the final 3–2 for its first Fed Cup victory.

Kuznetsova did not participate in the next two years. She rejoined in 2007 and defeated Spain's Lourdes Domínguez Lino and Anabel Medina Garrigues in the quarterfinal. She was elected in the final that year. There, she won against Mara Santangelo and Schiavone from Italy. Russia again won that year's Cup.

The next year she again participated. She played against the United States, defeating then-282nd-ranked Ahsha Rolle in the semifinal, 6–2, 6–1. By contrast, Kuznetsova lost the doubles competition with partner Elena Vesnina, beaten by Liezel Huber and Vania King. In the end, Russia defeated the US 3–2. In the final, Russia defeated Spain as it had the prior year. Kuznetsova won against Carla Suárez Navarro and Garrigues, 6–3, 6–1 and 5–7, 6–3, 6–4. Team Russia won the 2008 Fed Cup with a straight defeat, 4–0.

In 2009 Kuznetsova joined the group again. She played against China in the quarterfinal and won in the singles over opponent Zi Yan, and in the doubles, together with Dementieva, over Tian-Tian Sun and Zi Yan, after losing the first set. Russia won against China in a straight 5–0 final scoreline. Russia lost to Italy in the semifinal. Kuznetsova was the only winner, defeating Pennetta, 6–0, 6–3.

At the 57th Fed Cup, Russia lost against Serbia in the quarterfinal 3–2. There, Kuznetsova won two of three matches, beating Ivanović, 6–1, 6–4, and Ivanović and Janković in doubles, with partner Kleybanova, with the same scoreline. She lost to Janković, 3–6 6–4 3–6.

Kuznetsova joined the Russian team in 2011. In the first round they faced France, February 5 through February 6. In the first round, Kuznetsova was defeated by Alizé Cornet, 6–3, 3–6, 4–6, but defeated Virginie Razzano a day later, 6–4, 6–4. She teamed up with Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and defeated Cornet/Julie Coin, 7–6(4), 6–0 in the doubles. Russia became just the fourth nation to come back from 0–2 down in a Fed Cup tie since the best-of-five-match format was introduced to the World Group in 1995. Russia defeated Italy in the semifinal in 5–0. There, Svetlana Kuznetsova defeated Roberta Vinci, 6–2, 6–7(4), 6–1. Russia succeeded, the first time since 2008, in a final in the Fed Cup. They will play against Czech Republic, who defeated Belgium in 3–2.

Off-Court

Coaches

Kuznetsova underwent coaching at the Sanchez-Casal Academy in Spain and was coached by club president Emilio Sánchez under the direction of Emilio Sánchez Vicario and Sergio Casal. But her major coaching relationship was with Stefan Ortega who was a regular face in her player's box and helped advance her game.

After a series of dismal finals' results Kuznetsova's ended her relationship with the Sanchez-Casal academy and moved to Moscow on the advice of Roger Federer and started training with experienced Russian coach Olga Morozova. They ended that relationship after the BNP Paribas Open in March 2009, after which Kuznetsova was without a coach. As of May 2009 her coach was former Russian tennis player and Fed Cup coach Larisa Savchenko. She was coached for a short period by Loic Courteau after trying unsuccessfully to convince Mauresmo to coach her. Her next coach was for a short time the former Spanish tennis player Carlos Cuadrado, until being replaced with her former coach Savchenko.

Appearances in video games

Svetlana Kuznetsova appeared in video games Top Spin 3 and Virtua Tennis 2009 and has been announced as part of the roster of Virtua Tennis 4 as a playable character.

Playing style

Svetlana Kuznetsova is an all-round player. She is noted for her great speed on court and her strong forehand with lot of topspin. She is capable of producing effective volley winners providing an agile touch. However, she is known for her unpredictability and inconsistency.

Career statistics

{|class=wikitable style=text-align:center;font-size:98% !Tournament!!2000!!2001!!2002!!2003!!2004!!2005!!2006!!2007!!2008!!2009!!2010!!2011!!SR!!W–L |- |bgcolor=#efefef align=left|Australian Open |A |A |bgcolor=#afeeee|2R |bgcolor=#afeeee|1R |bgcolor=#afeeee|3R |bgcolor=#ffebcd|QF |bgcolor=#afeeee|4R |bgcolor=#afeeee|4R |bgcolor=#afeeee|3R |bgcolor=#ffebcd|QF |bgcolor=#afeeee|4R |bgcolor=#afeeee|4R |bgcolor=#efefef|0 / 10 |bgcolor=#efefef|28–10 |- |bgcolor=#efefef align=left|French Open |A |A |LQ |bgcolor=#afeeee|1R |bgcolor=#afeeee|4R |bgcolor=#afeeee|4R |bgcolor=thistle|F |bgcolor=#ffebcd|QF |bgcolor=yellow|SF |bgcolor=lime|'''W |bgcolor=#afeeee|3R |bgcolor=#ffebcd|QF |bgcolor=#efefef|1 / 10 |bgcolor=#efefef|35–9 |- |bgcolor=#efefef align=left|Wimbledon |A |A |LQ |bgcolor=#ffebcd|QF |bgcolor=#afeeee|1R |bgcolor=#ffebcd|QF |bgcolor=#afeeee|3R |bgcolor=#ffebcd|QF |bgcolor=#afeeee|4R |bgcolor=#afeeee|3R |bgcolor=#afeeee|2R |bgcolor=#afeeee|3R |bgcolor=#efefef|0 / 9 |bgcolor=#efefef|23–10 |- |bgcolor=#efefef align=left|US Open |A |A |bgcolor=#afeeee|3R |bgcolor=#afeeee|3R |bgcolor=lime|'''W |bgcolor=#afeeee|1R |bgcolor=#afeeee|4R |bgcolor=thistle|F |bgcolor=#afeeee|3R |bgcolor=#afeeee|4R |bgcolor=#afeeee|4R |bgcolor=white| |bgcolor=#efefef|1 / 9 |bgcolor=#efefef|31–8 |- !style=text-align:left|Win–Loss !0–0 !0–0 !11–4 !6–4 !12–3 !11–4 !14–4 !17–4 !12–4 !16–3 !9–4 !9–3 !2 / 38 !115–36 |- !style=text-align:left|Overall Win–Loss !6–5 !16–6 !48–15 !26–18 !60–23 !29–17 !60–20 !55–20 !44–21 !43–16 !26–17 !17–11 ! !430–189 |-bgcolor=#efefef |align=left|Year End Ranking |889 |259 |43 |36 |bgcolor=#eee8aa|'''5 |18 |bgcolor=#eee8aa|'''4 |bgcolor=thistle|'''2 |bgcolor=#eee8aa|'''8 |bgcolor=#9cf|'''3 |27 |14 !colspan=2| |}

Qualifying matches are included in the win-loss records.

Grand Slam finals

Singles

{|class="sortable wikitable" style=font-size:97% !width=80|Outcome !width=60|Year !width=200|Championship !width=75|Surface !width=200|Opponent in the final !width=150|Score in the final |-bgcolor=#ccccff |bgcolor=98FB98|Winner||2004||US Open||Hard|| Elena Dementieva||6–3, 7–5 |-bgcolor=#ebc2af |bgcolor=FFA07A|Runner-up||2006||French Open||Clay|| Justine Henin||6–4, 6–4 |-bgcolor=#ccf |bgcolor=FFA07A|Runner-up||2007||US Open||Hard|| Justine Henin||6–1, 6–3 |-bgcolor=#ebc2af |bgcolor=98FB98|Winner||2009||French Open||Clay|| Dinara Safina||6–4, 6–2 |}

Doubles

{|class="sortable wikitable" style=font-size:96% !width=90|Outcome !width=65|Year !width=220|Championship !width=75|Surface !width=250|Partner !width=230|Opponents in the final !width=150|Score in the final |-bgcolor=#ccccff |bgcolor=FFA07A|Runner-up||2003||US Open||Hard|| Martina Navrátilová|| Virginia Ruano Pascual Paola Suárez||6–2, 6–2 |-bgcolor=#ffffcc |bgcolor=FFA07A|Runner-up||2004||Australian Open||Hard|| Elena Likhovtseva|| Virginia Ruano Pascual Paola Suárez||6–4, 6–3 |-bgcolor=#ebc2af |bgcolor=FFA07A|Runner-up||2004||French Open||Clay|| Elena Likhovtseva|| Virginia Ruano Pascual Paola Suárez||6–0, 6–3 |-bgcolor=#ccccff |bgcolor=FFA07A|Runner-up||2004||US Open (2)||Hard|| Elena Likhovtseva|| Virginia Ruano Pascual Paola Suárez||6–4, 7–5 |-bgcolor=#ffffcc |bgcolor=98FB98|Winner||2005||Australian Open||Hard|| Alicia Molik|| Lindsay Davenport Corina Morariu||6–3, 6–4 |-bgcolor=#ccccff |bgcolor=FFA07A|Runner-up||2005||Wimbledon||Grass|| Amélie Mauresmo|| Cara Black Liezel Huber||6–2, 6–1 |}

Awards and nominations

;2002

WTA Awards – Most Impressive Newcomer (won)

;2005

Laureus World Newcomer of the Year (nominated) Best Female Tennis Player ESPY Award (nominated)

;2006

WTA Awards – Diamond Aces (won)

;2009

Best Female Tennis Player ESPY Award (nominated)

Records

! Label	! Figure	! Position	! Notes	! Refs
		10
	4
	430	11	shared with Daniela Hantuchová
	13	6

See also

Performance timelines for all female tennis players who reached at least one Grand Slam final

List of Grand Slam Women's Singles champions

References

External links

{{navboxes|title=Svetlana Kuznetsova in the Grand Slam Tournaments |list1= }} {{navboxes|title=Svetlana Kuznetsova Achievements |list1=

}}

Category:1985 births Category:Living people Category:Australian Open (tennis) champions Category:French Open champions Category:Olympic tennis players of Russia Category:Russian female tennis players Category:Sportspeople from Saint Petersburg Category:Tennis players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Category:Tennis players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Category:United States Open champions (tennis)

ar:سفتلانا كوزنتسوفا bn:সভেতলানা কুজনেতসোভা bg:Светлана Кузнецова ca:Svetlana Kuznetsova cs:Světlana Kuzněcovová da:Svetlana Kuznetsova de:Swetlana Alexandrowna Kusnezowa et:Svetlana Kuznetsova es:Svetlana Kuznetsova fa:اسوتلانا کوزنتسووا fr:Svetlana Kuznetsova ko:스베틀라나 쿠즈네초바 hi:स्वेतलाना कुज़नेतसोवा hr:Svetlana Kuznjecova it:Svetlana Kuznecova he:סבטלנה קוזנצובה lv:Svetlana Kuzņecova hu:Szvetlana Alekszandrovna Kuznyecova mr:स्वेतलाना कुझ्नेत्सोवा nl:Svetlana Koeznetsova ja:スベトラーナ・クズネツォワ no:Svetlana Kuznetsova pl:Swietłana Kuzniecowa pt:Svetlana Kuznetsova ro:Svetlana Kuznețova ru:Кузнецова, Светлана Александровна simple:Svetlana Kuznetsova sk:Svetlana Alexandrovna Kuznecovová sl:Svetlana Kuznecova sr:Светлана Кузњецова fi:Svetlana Kuznetsova sv:Svetlana Kuznetsova tr:Svetlana Kuznetsova uk:Кузнецова Світлана Олександрівна vi:Svetlana Kuznetsova zh:斯维特拉娜·库兹涅佐娃

Coordinates	12°58′0″N77°34′0″N
Name	Amélie Mauresmo
Country
Residence	Geneva, Switzerland
Birth date	July 05, 1979
Birth place	Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France
Height
Weight
Turnedpro	1994
Retired	3 December 2009
Plays	Right-handed (one-handed backhand)
Careerprizemoney	US$14,992,112
Singlesrecord	544–226 (70.65%)
Singlestitles	25 (2 ITF)
Highestsinglesranking	No. 1 (13 September 2004)
Australianopenresult	W (2006)
Frenchopenresult	QF (2003, 2004)
Wimbledonresult	W (2006)
Usopenresult	SF (2002, 2006)
Othertournaments	Yes |
Wtachampionshipsresult	W (2005) |
Olympicsresult	20pxSilver medal (2004)
Doublesrecord	92–62
Doublestitles	3 (2 ITF)
Highestdoublesranking	No. 29 (26 June 2006)
Grandslamsdoublesresults	yes
Australianopendoublesresult	QF (1999)
Frenchopendoublesresult	2R (1997, 1998)
Wimbledondoublesresult	F (2005)
Usopendoublesresult	3R (1999)
Updated	31 August 2009 }}

}} Amélie Simone Mauresmo ; (born 5 July 1979) is a former professional tennis player, and a former World No. 1. Mauresmo won two Grand Slam singles titles at the Australian Open and at Wimbledon.

Mauresmo first attained the top ranking on 13 September 2004, holding it for five weeks on that occasion. She was the fourteenth World No. 1 in women's tennis since the computer rankings began. She is well known for her powerful one-handed backhand and strong net play. She officially announced her retirement from professional tennis on 3 December 2009, ending a career of ten years. She returned to Wimbledon in 2010, acting as a grass court advisor for Frenchman and 2007 Wimbledon doubles champion Michaël Llodra.

Biography

Early life

Mauresmo was born in Saint-Germain-en-Laye. She began playing tennis at the age of four, after being inspired by Yannick Noah's win in the 1983 French Open on television. It was after his win that her parents bought her her first tennis racket. Later on in 1998 Yannick Noah picked her on the French team for the Fed Cup. Her mother, Françoise is a homemaker and her father Francis, who died in March 2004, was an engineer. She also has a brother Fabien who is an engineer.

In 1996, Mauresmo captured both the junior French Open and Wimbledon titles. She was named 1996 Junior World Champion by the International Tennis Federation.

Career

The unseeded Mauresmo reached the Australian Open final in 1999 with wins over three seeded players, including World No. 1 Lindsay Davenport, before falling to World No. 2 Martina Hingis. Mauresmo was only the second Frenchwoman ever to reach the Australian Open final (Mary Pierce was the first, winning the championship in 1995). She was only the third Frenchwoman to reach any Grand Slam final during the open era.

Mauresmo defeated Hingis later in the year, en route to the final of the Paris indoor event.

After the defeat of Davenport at the Australian Open Mauresmo, 19 at the time, came out as a lesbian to the international press.

2003

In 2003, Mauresmo was on the team that captured the Fed Cup for France.

In May, she defeated Venus Williams in the final of the J&S Cup in Warsaw. Two weeks later in an Italian Open semifinal, Mauresmo defeated Serena Williams for the first time but lost in the final to Kim Clijsters. In November, Mauresmo defeated Anastasia Myskina in the final of the tournament in Philadelphia.

2004

Mauresmo reached the semifinals at Wimbledon, where she lost to Serena Williams in three sets after Mauresmo had won the first set and was up a break in the second set. Mauresmo reached the quarterfinals of the three other Grand Slam tournaments and won three Tier I titles in Rome, Berlin, and Montreal.

Mauresmo won a silver medal in singles at the Olympic Games in Athens, where she was defeated by Belgian Justine Henin in the final.

On 13 September 2004, Mauresmo became the first French tennis player to become World No. 1 since the computer rankings began in the 1970s. She held that ranking for five weeks and was the second woman, after Kim Clijsters, to have attained the top spot without having won a Grand Slam title.

2005

At the US Open, Mauresmo lost to Mary Pierce in the quarterfinals 6–4, 6–1.

Mauresmo claimed her first singles title at the WTA Tour Championships. She defeated Pierce in the final after losing to Pierce in a round robin match at that tournament 2–6, 6–4, 6–2.

2006

At the Australian Open, Mauresmo captured her first Grand Slam singles title, defeating Belgian former World No. 1 players Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin en route. Both opponents retired from their respective matches, Clijsters with a right ankle sprain in the third set of their semifinal and Henin from gastroenteritis in the final. Mauresmo was leading in both matches at the time of the retirements, by 6–1, 2–0 against Henin.

Mauresmo then won her next two tournaments, the Open Gaz de France tournament in Paris (defeating Mary Pierce in the final) and the Proximus Diamond Games in Antwerp (defeating Clijsters in the final).

At the Qatar Total Open in Doha, Mauresmo defeated Martina Hingis in a semifinal 6–2, 6–2 but lost to Nadia Petrova in the final. Had she won the final, she would have immediately regained the World No. 1 ranking from Clijsters. Nonetheless, the outcome was sufficient to ensure Mauresmo's return to the World No. 1 ranking on 20 March 2006.

Mauresmo then reached the semifinals of the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida, where she lost to the eventual champion Svetlana Kuznetsova.

Mauresmo lost in the fourth round of the French Open to Czech teenager Nicole Vaidišová 6–7(5–7), 6–1, 6–2. Mauresmo next suffered a first round loss at the Wimbledon warm-up tournament in Eastbourne. However, Mauresmo and Kuznetsova won the doubles title there, their first as a team and Mauresmo's second overall.

Mauresmo was the top seed at Wimbledon. She defeated Anastasia Myskina in a quarterfinal and Maria Sharapova in a semifinal and then came back to defeat Henin in the final. The victory was Mauresmo's second Grand Slam singles title and the first on grass. She was also the first Frenchwoman since Suzanne Lenglen to win Wimbledon.

She then pulled out of the Fed Cup World Group I playoff tie against the Czech Republic due to a groin injury sustained during Wimbledon. She also withdrew from the Rogers Cup in Montreal.

Her next tournament was the Pilot Pen Tennis tournament in New Haven, Connecticut, where she lost in the quarterfinals to Lindsay Davenport 6–4, 7–5.

At the US Open, Mauresmo lost to Sharapova in the semifinals 6–0, 4–6, 6–0. This was the first time in the open era that a female had lost two sets at love in a US Open semifinal.

Mauresmo then reached the final of the China Open, losing to Kuznetsova. During the tournament, Mauresmo won 137 ranking points to help preserve her World No. 1 ranking and ended a nine-match losing streak to Davenport stretching back to January 2000 in Sydney.

To conclude the year, Mauresmo reached the final of the WTA Tour Championships in Madrid, losing to Henin, 6–4, 6–3. Mauresmo finished the year ranked World No. 3, behind Henin and Sharapova.

2007

Mauresmo started the year in Australia with a quarterfinal loss to Jelena Janković at the tournament in Sydney. At the Australian Open in Melbourne, Mauresmo lost in the fourth round to Lucie Šafářová 6–4, 6–3 after winning her first three matches in straight sets.

Mauresmo's next tournament was the Open Gaz de France, where she lost in the semifinals to Nadia Petrova 5–7, 6–4, 7–6(7) after Mauresmo led 4–1 in the final set and had a match point in the tiebreak. This was Mauresmo's third loss in the last four matches with Petrova. In her next tournament at the Proximus Diamond Games in Antwerp, Belgium, Mauresmo defeated Kim Clijsters in the final. This was Mauresmo's third consecutive title there, earning her the diamond encrusted racquet that comes with winning the title at least three times in five years. The trophy cost US$1.3 million. Mauresmo then played the Dubai Duty Free Women's Open, where she lost to Justine Henin in the final.

On 16 March 2007, Mauresmo received the Chevalier (Knight) of the Légion d'honneur from President Jacques Chirac.

Mauresmo was scheduled to play the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida but was forced to withdraw because of acute appendicitis. She also withdrew from the Bausch & Lomb Championships in Amelia Island, Florida for the same reason. Although she had resumed training, she was not fit enough to compete at the J & S Cup in Warsaw, Poland.

At the Qatar Telecom German Open in Berlin, Mauresmo lost in the third round to Julia Vakulenko of Ukraine, and at the Internazionali d'Italia in Rome, she lost in the second round to Australian Samantha Stosur 5–7, 6–7(4), 7–6(7) after Mauresmo led 5–3 in the third set. Going into the French Open, Mauresmo had played only three tournaments since the end of February. Mauresmo lost to Czech Lucie Šafářová in the third round 6–3, 7–6(4), committing eight double faults and 49 unforced errors.

After losing to Henin in the final of the International Women's Open in Eastbourne 7–5, 6–7(4), 7–6(2), after being up 4–1 in the deciding set, defending champion Mauresmo went into Wimbledon saying that she was ready to win another major title. However, she lost her fourth round match with Czech teen Nicole Vaidišová 7–6(6), 4–6, 6–1. The loss dropped her to World No. 6, her first time outside the top 5 since November 2003.

Mauresmo withdrew from the last Grand Slam tournament of the year, the US Open, because of a lack of fitness.

She made her return to the tour at the China Open in Beijing. However, she lost in the quarterfinals to homecrowd favourite Peng Shuai. She then entered the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, where she lost to Elena Dementieva in straight sets. At the Kremlin Cup in Moscow, Mauresmo lost in the first round to Vera Zvonareva. In Zürich, Mauresmo lost in the second round to Alona Bondarenko in three sets.

Mauresmo left Dunlop for HEAD. The partnership will run through 2010.

2008

Her first tournament of the year was the Tier III Mondial Australian Women's Hardcourts in Gold Coast, Australia, where she lost in the quarterfinals to fourth-seeded Patty Schnyder. At the Australian Open in Melbourne, Mauresmo lost in the third round to Australian Casey Dellacqua 3–6, 6–4, 6–4.

At her next tournament, the Tier II Open Gaz de France in Paris, Mauresmo lost in the quarterfinals to Anna Chakvetadze 3–6, 6–3, 6–3.

Mauresmo played both of the tournaments in the Middle East. At the Tier I Qatar Total Open in Doha, she lost in the second round to Tamarine Tanasugarn 7–6(7), 7–5. At the Tier II Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships, Mauresmo reached her third quarterfinal of the year, but was unable to hold off second seed and eventual finalist Svetlana Kuznetsova, losing 6–1, 7–6.

Mauresmo then lost in the third round of both the Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, California and the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida, both of which were Tier I events.

On clay at the Bausch & Lomb Championships in Amelia Island, Florida, Mauresmo lost in the quarterfinals to eventual runner-up Dominika Cibulková.

At the French Open, Mauresmo lost in the second round to a Spanish qualifier, Carla Suárez Navarro, 6–3, 6–4.

At the International Women's Open in Eastbourne, United Kingdom, Mauresmo defeated sixth-seeded French woman Alizé Cornet in the first round 6–1, 4–6, 7–5 but lost in the second round after retiring due to injury from her match with Australian Samantha Stosur while Mauresmo was leading 2–1.

At Wimbledon, Mauresmo lost in the third round to two-time former champion Serena Williams 7–6(5), 6–1. Hampered by a thigh injury, Mauresmo trailed 5–0 in the second set before breaking Williams's serve only to be broken herself in the next game and lose the match. Mauresmo said after the match, "I was not 100% in my movement but overall I thought there were some good moments in the first set. But I really started to feel the injury in the tiebreak, and I'm not going to talk about the second set."

Mauresmo declined the nomination by the French Tennis Federation to play in the Olympic Games after Mary Pierce withdrew. Pauline Parmentier was then nominated.

Mauresmo, after a two-month hiatus from tennis due to a thigh injury sustained at Wimbledon, lost in the semifinals of the Western & Southern Financial Group Women's Open in Cincinnati, Ohio to Nathalie Dechy 6–4, 3–6, 6–2. After the match, Mauresmo, sounding optimistic about her chances at the upcoming US Open, said "I got four matches in this week, which is what I was looking for. It would have been great to play five but I'll go to New Haven (Connecticut) hoping to find a little more rhythm and build up to the US Open." Mauresmo then lost in the semifinals of the Pilot Pen Tennis tournament (in New Haven) to top-seeded Chakvetadze 6–3, 3–6, 6–1. At the US Open, Mauresmo lost in the fourth round to 16th-seeded Flavia Pennetta 6–3, 6–0.

On 29 September, Mauresmo announced that she would split from her long-time coach, Loic Courteau.

Mauresmo lost in the first round at Tokyo and Beijing both times in long three set defeats by Dominika Cibulková. She reached the 2nd round in Moscow, falling to Dinara Safina (6–7(2), 6–4, 6–4) and fell in the first round at Zurich to Belyrussian teenager Victoria Azarenka.

She ended her year with a quarterfinal result at Luxembourg, losing to eventual champion Elena Dementieva. Mauresmo ended the year ranked World No. 24 with a singles record of 32–19.

2009

At the Brisbane International tournament, Mauresmo defeated World No. 177 Jelena Dokić in the first round 7–6(9), 7–6(5) before defeating French compatriot Julie Coin in the second round 5–7, 6–2, 7–6(11) in 3 hours, 14 minutes. The fifth-seeded Mauresmo then upset top-seeded Ana Ivanović in the quarterfinals 6–3, 6–2, before retiring in her semifinal match against the third-seeded Frenchwoman, Marion Bartoli, while trailing 0–4 in the first set. At the Australian Open, Mauresmo lost in the third round to Victoria Azarenka.

Mauresmo won her first tournament since 2007 by defeating Elena Dementieva in the final of the Open GDF SUEZ tournament in Paris.

Mauresmo lost in the third round of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California, the first Premier Mandatory event of the year, to Li Na 7–5, 6–2. The next event on the WTA tour was another Premier Mandatory tournament, the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida. Mauresmo was seeded 20th there and lost in the fourth round to unseeded Australian Samantha Stosur 6–4, 6–4, but ended up winning the Doubles event with her tennis partner Svetlana Kuznetsova after ousting the world champions on their way to the cup.

At the Madrid Masters, Mauresmo defeated Zheng Jie in the second round 6–2, 7–5. She then came from behind to defeat Elena Dementieva 1–6, 6–4, 6–2, and Ágnes Szávay 5–7, 6–1, 6–1 in the third round and quarterfinal respectively. She lost against fast-rising teenager star Caroline Wozniacki 7–6(1) 6–3 in the semifinals.

Mauresmo lost against Anna-Lena Grönefeld 6–4, 6–3 in the first round of the French Open.

Mauresmo was the 17th seed at the 2009 Wimbledon Championships. She opened with a 6–1, 4–6, 6–2 win over Melinda Czink. She then defeated Kristína Kučová and Flavia Pennetta. Her fourth round match against the number 1 seed Dinara Safina became a part of tennis history as it was the first competitive match in which the new, multi-million pound roof closed due to rain. Mauresmo went on to lose the match 6–4, 3–6, 4–6.

At the 2009 US Open, Mauresmo was the 17th seed, but lost to unseeded Aleksandra Wozniak 6–4, 6–0 in the second round.

Mauresmo announced at a press conference on 8 October 2009 that she was considering retiring from tennis. On 3 December 2009, she officially announced her retirement from tennis at a press conference in Paris, France.

2010–11

In June and July 2010, Mauresmo temporarily coached fellow French male player Michaël Llodra during the grass season. On 7 November, Mauresmo ran her first marathon at the 2010 New York City Marathon, finishing 3hr: 40m: 20s.

At the 2011 French Open, Mauresemo was set to be reunited with Llodra, making her professional return in the mixed doubles competition, but was disqualified before competing, as she had not re-registered for the anti-doping procedures required to compete on the tour.

Performance at Grand Slam tournaments

Although Mauresmo had been one of the top singles players for several years, she did not have success in winning Grand Slam tournaments until 2006. Her talents were never questioned, but Mauresmo was criticized for her mental strength after succumbing to nerves in those events. In consecutive Wimbledon championships, she lost to Serena Williams and Lindsay Davenport after leading comfortably. Before her 2006 Australian Open title, Mauresmo was often touted as "the greatest women's player never to win a Grand Slam." After winning the 2006 Wimbledon title, Mauresmo openly joked, "I don’t want anyone to talk about my nerves any more."

Mauresmo is one of the few tennis players, male or female, to have reached the top ranking without first winning a Grand Slam singles title. Other players who had done so were Belgian Kim Clijsters, who ascended to the top spot in 2003, two years before winning her first Grand Slam singles title at the 2005 U.S. Open; Ivan Lendl, who first reached World No. 1 in 1983, before winning any of his eight Grand Slam singles titles; Marcelo Ríos of Chile, who reached World No. 1 in 1998 but never won a Grand Slam singles title; Jelena Janković of Serbia who reached World No. 1 in 2008 without winning a Grand Slam singles title; Dinara Safina, who reached World No. 1 in 2009 without winning a Grand Slam singles title; and Caroline Wozniacki, who reached World No. 1 in 2010 without winning a Grand Slam singles title.

Career statistics

Fed Cup and Olympic teams

French Fed Cup team: 1998–99, 2001–05.

French Olympic team: 2000, 2004

See also

List of Grand Slam Women's Singles champions

References

External links

Category:1979 births Category:Living people Category:People from Saint-Germain-en-Laye Category:Australian Open (tennis) champions Category:French expatriates in Switzerland Category:French tennis players Category:Laureus World Sports Awards winners Category:Olympic silver medalists for France Category:Olympic tennis players of France Category:People from Geneva Category:Tennis players at the 2000 Summer Olympics Category:Tennis players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Category:Wimbledon champions Category:World No. 1 tennis players Category:French female tennis players Category:Olympic medalists in tennis Category:Wimbledon junior champions Category:French Open junior champions

ar:إميلي موريسمو an:Amélie Mauresmo bn:আমেলি মোরেসমো bg:Амели Моресмо ca:Amélie Mauresmo cs:Amélie Mauresmová da:Amélie Mauresmo de:Amélie Mauresmo et:Amélie Mauresmo es:Amélie Mauresmo eo:Amélie Mauresmo fa:آملی مورسمو fr:Amélie Mauresmo ko:아멜리 모레스모 hi:एमिली मोरेज़मो hr:Amélie Mauresmo id:Amélie Mauresmo it:Amélie Mauresmo he:אמלי מורסמו lv:Amēlija Moresmo hu:Amélie Mauresmo mr:अमेली मॉरेस्मो ms:Amelie Mauresmo nl:Amélie Mauresmo ja:アメリ・モレスモ no:Amélie Mauresmo oc:Amélie Mauresmo pl:Amélie Mauresmo pt:Amélie Mauresmo ru:Моресмо, Амели sk:Amélie Mauresmová sr:Амели Моресмо sh:Amelie Mauresmo fi:Amélie Mauresmo sv:Amélie Mauresmo tr:Amélie Mauresmo uk:Амелі Моресмо vi:Amélie Mauresmo zh:阿梅莉·毛瑞斯莫

Coordinates	12°58′0″N77°34′0″N
name	Maria SharapovaМария Шарапова
nickname	Masha(diminutive)
country
residence	Bradenton, Florida, USA
birth date	April 19, 1987
birth place	Nyagan, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
height
weight
turnedpro	April 19, 2001
plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
careerprizemoney	$16,428,154
singlesrecord	408–100 (80.31%)
singlestitles	24 WTA, 4 ITF
highestsinglesranking	No. 1 (August 22, 2005)
currentsinglesranking	No. 4 (August 29, 2011)
australianopenresult	W (2008)
frenchopenresult	SF (2007, 2011)
wimbledonresult	W (2004)
usopenresult	W (2006)
othertournaments	Yes
wtachampionshipsresult	W (2004)
doublesrecord	23–17
doublestitles	3 WTA
highestdoublesranking	41 (June 14, 2004)
australianopendoublesresult	2R (2003, 2004)
usopendoublesresult	2R (2003)
updated	August 29, 2011 }}

Maria Yuryevna Sharapova (born April 19, 1987) is a Russian professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. A US resident since 1994, Sharapova has won 24 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 invitational WTA Tour Championships in 2004.

The Women's Tennis Association (WTA) has ranked Sharapova World No. 1 in singles on four separate occasions. She became the World No. 1 for the first time on Aug 22, 2005 and last regained this ranking for the fourth time on May 19, 2008. She is currently ranked World No. 4. She has been in 5 Grand Slam finals. Her Grand Slam final record is 3–2.

Sharapova made her professional breakthrough in 2004 when, at age 17, she upset 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 ten of the WTA Rankings with this win. Despite not winning a major in 2005, Sharapova briefly held the number one 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 ultimately won her third Grand Slam at the 2008 Australian Open, defeating Henin in the quarterfinals and Ana Ivanović in the final. After reclaiming the number one ranking in May 2008, Sharapova's shoulder problems re-surfaced, ultimately requiring surgery in October and forcing her out of the game for nearly ten 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 5 singles titles (bringing her career total to 24) and improved her ranking to within the top 5.

Sharapova's public profile extends beyond tennis, as she 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 those 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 both 2005 and 2008. 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''.

Early life

Sharapova was born in 1987 to Yury and Yelena, in the town of Nyagan in Siberia, Russia. Her parents moved from Gomel, Belarus, after the Chernobyl nuclear accident in 1986 affected the region. When Sharapova was two, the family moved to Sochi, where her father befriended Aleksandr Kafelnikov, whose son Yevgeny would go on to win two Grand Slam singles titles and became Russia's first ever World No. 1 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. She took her first tennis lessons with veteran Russian coach Yuri Yutkin, who was instantly impressed when he first saw her play, noting her "exceptional hand-eye co-ordination."

At the age of seven, Sharapova attended a tennis clinic in Moscow run by Martina Navrátilová, 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. 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 America, which they finally did in 1994. Visa restrictions prevented Sharapova's mother from joining them for two years. Arriving in Florida with savings of US$700, 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.

Tennis career

2001–03

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. She was then given a special award, the Rising Star Award, which is awarded only to players of exceptional promise. She made her professional debut in 2001, 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.

From 2003, Sharapova played a full season, and made a rapid climb into the top 50 by the end of the year. She made her debuts at both the Australian Open and the French Open, but failed to win a match in either. It wasn't until the grass season that she began to fulfill her promise, beating a top 20 player for the first time and reaching her first ever 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.

By the end of September, Sharapova had already captured her first WTA title, at a smaller event, the Japan Open Tennis Championships, before winning her second in her final tournament of the season, the Bell Challenge. To cap off her first full season as a professional, she was awarded the WTA Newcomer of the Year honor.

2004

Sharapova was defeated in the third round of the Australian Open by seventh seed Anastasia Myskina. The highlight of the remainder of her spring hardcourt season was a run to the semifinals at the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships and the Cellular South Cup, where she ultimately lost to Vera Zvonareva.

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 and the Internazionali BNL d'Italia, both of which were Tier I events. At the latter event, she defeated a player ranked inside the top 10 for the first time with a straight-sets win over World No. 10 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. Seeded 13th and aged 17 at Wimbledon, she reached her first Grand Slam semi-final 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", with other writers commenting on her arrival as a serious challenger to the Williams' dominance at Wimbledon. She entered the top ten in the rankings for the first time as a result of the win.

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

2005

Sharapova started the year at the Australian Open, where she defeated fifth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova to reach the second Grand Slam semifinal of her career. Sharapova held match points in the third set of her semifinal match before losing to eventual champion Serena Williams. In February, Sharapova won back-to-back tournaments, the Toray Pan Pacific Open and the Qatar Total Open, allowing her to reach the top three on the world rankings for the first time.

In the semifinals of the Tier I Pacific Life Open, Sharapova was defeated by Davenport 6–0, 6–0, the first time she had failed to win a game in a match. 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.

Sharapova made the semifinals of a clay-court tournament for the first time at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia, where she lost to Patty Schnyder. Sharapova would have become the World No. 1 for the first time had she won the tournament. Sharapova then reached the quarterfinals of the French Open for the second consecutive year, before losing to eventual champion Henin. 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.

A back injury sustained by World No. 1 Davenport at Wimbledon prevented her from playing tournaments during the summer hardcourt 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. Her reign lasted only one week, however, as Davenport reclaimed the top ranking after winning the Pilot Pen Tennis tournament.

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. To conclude the year, Sharapova failed to defend her title at the year-ending Sony Ericsson Championships, defeating Davenport in one of her round-robin matches but ultimately losing in the semifinals to eventual champion Amélie Mauresmo.

2006

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

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.

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

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

That autumn, Sharapova won titles in back-to-back weeks at the Zurich Open and the Generali Ladies Linz. 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. 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 finish at the closing of a year yet.

2007

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 (score was 1–6, 2–6), ranked World No. 81 at the time. By reaching the final, Sharapova recaptured the World No. 1 ranking. 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 (score was 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. 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.

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

Sharapova clinched the US Open Series by defending her title at the Acura Classic, her only championship of the year, and reaching the semi-finals in Los Angeles. In her US Open title defense, Sharapova lost her third round match to 30th seed Agnieszka Radwańska, her earliest exit at a Grand Slam singles tournament since the 2004 US Open where she lost in the same round.

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. Shortly after this, she fell out of the top five on the world rankings for the first time since 2004. She qualified for the eight-woman year-ending Sony Ericsson Championships only because Venus Williams withdrew from the tournament. 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 and Ana Ivanović. She then defeated Anna Chakvetadze in the semifinals. In the final, she lost to World No. 1 Henin in a match that lasted 3 hours and 24 minutes.

2008

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

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

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. As the top-seeded player at the French Open Sharapova was within two points of being knocked out by Evgeniya Rodina in the first round, before eventually winning. As a result of losing to Dinara Safina in the fourth round, she was forced to relinquish her No. 1 ranking. Her dip in form continued at Wimbledon, where she lost in the second round to World No. 154 Alla Kudryavtseva. This was her earliest loss ever at Wimbledon, and at any Grand Slam in almost five years.

Sharapova withdrew from the Rogers Cup tournament in August due to a shoulder injury. A MRI scan then 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 managed to finish the year ranked World No. 9. In October, after a failed attempt to rehabilitate the shoulder, Sharapova had surgery to repair the tear.

2009

Sharapova did not attempt to defend her Australian Open title as she continued to recover from surgery. 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, being beaten by 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 playing 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 3 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. Nevertheless, she was dealt her second straight early exit at the final Grand Slam of the year, losing to Melanie Oudin at the US Open, while committing 60 unforced errors and a personal record of 21 double faults.

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 use it to her advantage, losing to Peng Shuai in the third round. She ultimately finished the season at No. 14, having improved from No. 126 when she started her return.

2010

Sharapova began her 2010 season with an exhibition match in Hua Hin, Thailand against Venus Williams and won 6–4, 6–3. Sharapova then played another exhibition, the team event Hong Kong Tennis Classic where she represented and was Captain of Team Russia. She won her first singles match against Zheng Jie 6–7(5), 6–4, 6–2 and then teamed up with Yevgeny Kafelnikov to win the doubles match 6–4, 7–5 against Ayumi Morita and Paradorn Srichaphan of Team Asia Pacific. Sharapova then defeated World No. 4 Caroline Wozniacki 7–5, 6–3 in the final against Team Europe.

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 that lasted more than three hours, losing 6–7(4), 6–3, 4–6 to Maria Kirilenko who reached the quarterfinals of the tournament. The loss meant that for the first time since 2003, Sharapova had lost her opening match at a Grand Slam event.

She then competed in the Cellular South Cup, where she reached the final and beat Sofia Arvidsson 6–2, 6–1 to win her 21st career WTA title and first of the year.

At the BNP Paribas Open, Sharapova lost in the third round 3–6, 6–2, 3–6 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, and the Family Circle Cup.

Returning at the 2010 Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open, Sharapova lost in the first round 4–6, 3–6 to Lucie Šafářová. She continued her French Open preparation at the Internationaux de Strasbourg as a wildcard. Sharapova advanced to the final where she beat Kristina Barrois 7–5, 6–1. This was her first title on red clay and 22nd overall title.

At the French Open, Sharapova's brief clay season culminated with a third round loss to four-time champion Justine Henin, losing 2–6, 6–3, 3–6.

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 5–7, 1–6.

As the 16th seed at Wimbledon, Sharapova lost in the fourth round to world No. 1 and eventual champion Serena Williams 7–6(9), 6–4, despite having three set points in the opening set. 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, and Sharapova herself stating she feels that she is "in a much better spot than I was last year."

Sharapova started the US Open Series campaign at Stanford. She lost to World No. 18 Victoria Azarenka in the final 4–6, 1–6.

Her next tournament was at Cincinnati where she was seeded 10th. Sharapova made it to the final where she lost to Kim Clijsters 6–2, 6–7(4), 2–6. Sharapova held 3 match points while leading 5–3 on Clijsters's serve late in the second set, but could not convert them. Then play was interrupted by rain with Sharapova leading 6–2, 5–3, 40–40. At the 2010 U.S. Open, Sharapova was the 14th seed. She made it to the fourth round, where she played top seed Caroline Wozniacki and lost 6–3 6–4.

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 Kimiko Date Krumm, losing 5–7, 6–3, 3–6. Her last tournament of the year was the China Open, she lost in the 2nd round to fellow Russian Elena Vesnina, losing 6–7(3), 2–6. Days later she announced the end of her 2010 season. She ended the year at number 18 in the world.

2011

It was announced that Sharapova would bring in Thomas Hogstedt as a coach for the 2011 season, joining Michael Joyce. 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.

Sharapova confirmed that her first tournament of the year would be at the 2011 ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand, held from January 4 to 9. She also announced that she would be leading the Russia Fed Cup team against France in February in their first-round tie.

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 was defeated in the quarter-finals by the Hungarian veteran and eventual champion Gréta Arn, 2–6, 5–7. 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.

Sharapova participated in the first grand slam of the season at the Australian Open, where she was the 14th seeded player. She made it to the fourth round, where she lost to Andrea Petkovic 2–6, 3–6.

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. She also had to pull out of five 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 first premier mandatory tournament of the year, the 2011 BNP Paribas Open, where she was seeded 16th. She lost in the semi-final to World No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki 1–6, 2–6. With this result, Sharapova returns to the top 10 for the first time since February, 2009.

Sharapova's next tournament was the second premier mandatory tournament, the 2011 Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Miami. Seeded 16th, she defeated 26th seed Alexandra Dulgheru in the quarter-finals in an match that lasted 3 hours and 28 minutes, the longest match of her career, and though twisting her left ankle while serving at 5–5 in the third set, she won 3–6, 7–6(6), 7–6(5). In the semifinals, she defeated Andrea Petkovic 3–6, 6–0, 6–2. In the final, her shaky and error-prone form resulted in a loss to Victoria Azarenka, 1–6, 4–6, despite a late comeback in the second set. By reaching the semifinals, she guaranteed her return to the top 10 for the first time since February 1, 2009.

Because of Sharapova's refusal of her wildcard offer to the 2011 Family Circle Cup, her clay season was scheduled to begin at the third premier mandatory tournament at the 2011 Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open, where she was seeded 8th. She lost to Dominika Cibulková 5–7, 4–6 in the third round.

Sharapova's next tournament was the 2011 Internazionali BNL d'Italia, where she was seeded seventh. She defeated World No. 7 Samantha Stosur 6–2 6–4 to take home the title, marking her biggest clay-court victory to date. With this, Sharapova overtakes Stosur as the World No. 7, her highest position since November, 2008.

Sharapova's next tournament was the 2011 French Open where she was seeded 7th. She defeated 15th seed Andrea Petkovic 6–0, 6–3 in the quarter-finals, marking her first grand slam semi-finals since her comeback from the career-threatening shoulder injury. She then struggled to play in the strong winds, making a myriad of unforced errors and double faults on her way to a loss to 6th seed and eventual champion Li Na 4–6, 5–7 in the semi-finals, subsequently ending her clay season with a win-loss of 12–2. This marks her most successful clay season to date. In addition, due to the semi-final appearance at Roland Garros, Sharapova moved up to World No. 6 for her highest position since November, 2008.

Sharapova committed to the 2011 AEGON Classic in Birmingham, UK to open up her grass season campaign, where she would have been seeded 1st. However, after her loss at the 2011 Roland Garros, she withdrew from the AEGON Classic, citing illness.

Sharapova then participated at the 2011 Wimbledon Championships where she was seeded 5th. She had not dropped a set in the tournament entering the final, where she beat compatriot Anna Chakvetadze, Laura Robson, Klara Zakopalova, 20th seed Shuai Peng, 24th seed Dominika Cibulková and resurgent Sabine Lisicki along the way. She then lost to 8th seed Petra Kvitová in straight sets, 3–6, 4–6. With this result, Sharapova moved up to World No. 5 which is the highest position she has reached since her comeback from her shoulder injury. It is also her highest position since the 2008 US Open.

Sharapova competed at the 2011 Bank of the West Classic in Stanford, USA to begin her 2011 US Open Series campaign. As she was seeded 2nd, she received a bye into the second round, where she defeated Daniela Hantuchová 6–2, 2–6, 6–4 to advance to the quarter-finals. In a highly anticipated match, Sharapova lost to fellow multiple grand slam champion Serena Williams 1–6, 3–6 in the quarter-finals. Serena Williams was the eventual champion.

Sharapova then entered the 2011 Rogers Cup in Toronto, Canada. As the 5th seed, she received a bye into the second round, where she defeated Bojana Jovanovski 6–1, 7–5. In the third round, she lost to Galina Voskoboeva 3–6, 5–7, marking her 100th career loss.

Sharapova then contested at the 2011 Western & Southern Open held in Cincinnati, Ohio. As the 4th 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, 14th seed Svetlana Kuznetsova 6–2, 6–3, 10th seed, Samantha Stosur 6–3, 6–2 and 2nd seed Vera Zvonareva 2–6, 6–3, 6–3 respectively. In the final, she defeated fellow former World No. 1 Jelena Jankovic 4–6, 7–6(3), 6–3 in two hours and 49 minutes, making it the longest WTA tour final this year. She subsequently moved up to World No. 4, her highest ranking since August, 2008 and the highest since her comeback from her shoulder injury.

Sharapova then entered the final grand slam of the year, the US Open in New York, USA where she was seeded 3rd. She beat British up-and-comer Heather Watson in the first round 3–6, 7–5, 6–3.

Fed Cup participation

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. 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."

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

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

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.

Playing style

Sharapova is an aggressive baseliner, with power, depth, and angles on her forehand and backhand. Additionally, 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. Sharapova is thought to have good speed around the court, especially considering her height. 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. 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". At the 2010 French Open, Hall-of-famer Martina Navratilova said of Sharapova, "with her, it's not over until she's shaking hands." Sharapova is known for on-court "grunting", which reached a recorded 101 decibels during a match at Wimbledon in 2005. 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." Monica Seles suggested that grunting is involuntary and a part of tennis. When questioned by the media about her grunting, Sharapova urged the media to "just watch the match." Her defensive game has been worked on by her new coach, and this has reflected in her results, making consecutive semi-finals at premier mandatory events on the tour.

Serve

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

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.

Since her coach change in 2011, she has been much more consistent with her serves, reducing the number of double faults she would produce in addition to consistently serving 70–80% of first serves in. She improved her serve by working on the placement of her serve. This is evident in her matches between the 2011 BNP Paribas Open to present.

Surfaces

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, 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.

Ground strokes and net-play

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 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.

Outside tennis

Sharapova has lived in the United States since moving there at the age of seven. She has a home in Manhattan Beach, California.

Sharapova lists fashion, movies, music and reading the Sherlock Holmes and Pippi Longstocking series as among her off-court interests, while she has also talked in the past about how she takes hip-hop dance classes. Sharapova has a Pomeranian named Dolce, which means "sweet" in Italian. Sharapova is also a stamp collector and has a "huge collection" compiled since she was a child.

Sharapova is engaged to Slovenian professional basketball player Sasha Vujačić (''Saša Vujačič, Саша Вујачић''), who plays for the New Jersey Nets. The two have been dating since 2009.

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.

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.

In 2005, she donated around US$50,000 to those affected by the crisis. 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, though it didn't happen as she had to travel back to the US because of shoulder injury. She fulfilled the trip in late June – early July 2010.

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.

Sharapova helped to promote the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

In 2011, Sharapova was named in Forbes Celebrity 100. This lists her as one of the top 100 most powerful celebrities of the year.

Sharapova has often implied that she desires an early retirement. Following the retirement of 25-year-old Justine Henin, Sharapova said, "If I was 25 and I'd won so many Grand Slams, I'd quit too." 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.

Endorsements

Sharapova's tennis success and appearance have enabled her to secure commercial endorsements that greatly exceed the value of her tournament winnings. In April 2005, ''People'' named her one of the 50 most beautiful celebrities in the world. 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.

In a poll run by Britain's ''FHM'' magazine, she was voted the seventh most eligible bachelorette, based on both "wealth and looks."

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. She then switched to the Prince O3 White racquet in January 2006. Because of Sharapova's various shoulder injuries, she switched to the Prince O3 Speedport Black in July 2008. In January 2011, it was announced that Sharapova would endorse Head racquets and use the Head YOUTEK Radical Midplus.

Sharapova signed a sponsorship deal in January 2007 with Gatorade and Tropicana.

In June 2007, Forbes magazine listed her as the highest-paid female athlete in the world, with annual earnings of over US $26 million, the majority of which was from endorsements and sponsorships. In a later interview, she said, "You know, one of the greatest things about being an athlete and, you know, making money is realizing that you can help, you know, help the world, and especially children, who I absolutely love working with."

In 2007, Sharapova was featured in a number of Canon USA's commercials for the PowerShot.

Sharapova has also been depicted in many tennis-related video games, along with such players as Daniela Hantuchová, Lindsay Davenport, Venus Williams and Anna Kournikova. Some of the titles include the ''Top Spin series'', ''Virtua Tennis'' series, and ''Grand Slam Tennis''.

Upon hearing that ''Sports Illustrated'' had named her in 2006 as the world's best-paid female athlete, Sharapova said, apparently only a little tongue-in-cheek, "It's never enough. Bring on the money. There's no limit to how much you can make."

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.

Wealth

In July 2008, as a result of her success both on and off court, she was the world's highest-paid female athlete, earning US $26 million.

In August 2010, Maria Sharapova was once again named the world's highest-paid female athlete by ''Forbes'', earning $24.5 million.

In January 2010, she signed an eight-year Nike contract, worth $70 million.

Career statistics and awards

Grand Slam Finals

Singles: 5 finals (3 titles, 2 runner-ups)

{|class="sortable wikitable" |- !width=100|Outcome !width=50|Year !width=200|Championship !width=75|Surface !width=200|Opponent in the final !width=200|Score in the final |- style="background:#cfc;" |bgcolor=98FB98|Winner (1/1)||2004||Wimbledon||Grass|| Serena Williams||6–1, 6–4 |- style="background:#ccf;" |bgcolor=98FB98|Winner (2/2)||2006||US Open||Hard|| Justine Henin||6–4, 6–4 |- style="background:#ffc;" |bgcolor=FFA07A|Runner-up (2/3)||2007||Australian Open||Hard|| Serena Williams||6–1, 6–2 |- style="background:#ffc;" |bgcolor=98FB98|Winner (3/4)||2008||Australian Open||Hard|| Ana Ivanović||7–5, 6–3 |- style="background:#cfc;" |bgcolor=FFA07A|Runner-up (3/5)||2011||Wimbledon||Grass|| Petra Kvitová||6–3, 6–4 |}

Awards

;2003 Women's Tennis Association (WTA) Newcomer of the Year ;2004 WTA Player of the Year WTA Most Improved Player of the Year ;2005 ESPY Best Female Tennis Player

Named the country's best female player for the year by Russia's tennis federation

Master of Sports of Russia

Prix de Citron Roland Garros

;2006

Named the country's best female player for the year by Russia's tennis federation

Whirlpool 6th Sense Player of the Year ;2007 ESPY Best Female Tennis Player ESPY Best International Female Athlete

ESPN Hottest Female Athlete

;2008

Named the January 2008 female Athlete of the Month by the United States Sports Academy for her performance at the Australian Open

ESPY Best Female Tennis Player

;2010 WTA Fan Favorite Singles Player WTA Humanitarian Of The Year WTA Most Fashionable Player (On Court) WTA Most Fashionable Player (Off Court) WTA Most Dramatic Expression (2010)

References

External links

{{navboxes|title=Maria Sharapova in the Grand Slam Tournaments |list1= }} {{navboxes|title=Maria Sharapova Achievements |list1= }}

Category:1987 births Category:Living people Category:Australian Open (tennis) champions Category:Expatriate sportspeople in the United States Category:People from Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug Category:People from Manatee County, Florida Category:Russian expatriates in the United States Category:Russian female models Category:Russian female tennis players Category:United States Open champions (tennis) Category:Wimbledon champions Category:World No. 1 tennis players Category:Russian people of Armenian descent

ar:ماريا شارابوفا an:Mariya Xarápova az:Mariya Şarapova bn:মারিয়া শারাপোভা zh-min-nan:Maria Sharapova bs:Marija Šarapova bg:Мария Шарапова ca:Maria Xaràpova cv:Мария Шарапова cs:Maria Šarapovová cy:Maria Sharapova da:Marija Sjarapova de:Marija Jurjewna Scharapowa et:Marija Šarapova el:Μαρία Σαράποβα es:María Sharápova eo:Marija Ŝarapova eu:Maria Xarapova fa:ماریا شاراپووا fr:Maria Sharapova gv:Maria Sharapova ko:마리아 샤라포바 hi:मारिया शरापोवा hr:Marija Šarapova id:Maria Sharapova it:Marija Šarapova he:מריה שראפובה jv:Maria Sharapova ka:მარია შარაპოვა la:Maria Šarapova lv:Marija Šarapova lt:Marija Šarapova hu:Marija Jurjevna Sarapova mk:Марија Шарапова mr:मारिया शारापोव्हा arz:ماريا شارابوفا ms:Maria Sharapova my:မာရီယာ ရှာရာပိုဗာ nl:Maria Sjarapova ja:マリア・シャラポワ no:Marija Sjarapova pnb:ماریا شاراپووا pl:Maria Szarapowa pt:Maria Sharapova ro:Maria Șarapova rm:Maria Jurjewna Scharapowa ru:Шарапова, Мария Юрьевна simple:Maria Sharapova sk:Marija Jurievna Šarapovová sl:Marija Šarapova sr:Марија Шарапова sh:Marija Šarapova fi:Marija Šarapova sv:Marija Sjarapova tl:Maria Sharapova th:มาเรีย ชาราโปวา tr:Mariya Şarapova uk:Шарапова Марія Юріївна vi:Maria Yuryevna Sharapova wuu:玛丽亚·莎拉波娃 zh:玛丽亚·莎拉波娃

Coordinates	12°58′0″N77°34′0″N
Name	Tzipora Obziler
Country	Israel
Residence	Givatayim, Israel
Birth date	April 19, 1973
Birth place	Givatayim, Israel
Height
Weight
Turnedpro	April 1997
Retired	August 2009
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Careerprizemoney	$530,572
Singlesrecord	370–229
Singlestitles	0 WTA, 14 ITF
Highestsinglesranking	No. 75 (July 9, 2007)
Australianopenresult	2R (2004, 2005)
Frenchopenresult	2R (2007)
Wimbledonresult	1R (2007, 2008)
Usopenresult	2R (2004)
Doublesrecord	151–111
Doublestitles	0 WTA, 14 ITF
Highestdoublesranking	No. 149 (April 10, 2000)
Updated	May 26, 2008 }}

Tzipora Obziler (born April 19, 1973, in Givatayim, Israel) is a former professional right-handed tennis player.

She reached her career-high singles world ranking of #75 in on July 8, 2007, and doubles ranking of #149 on April 10, 2000.

In Federation Cup she is a shared world record holder for most ties played, at 61.

Tennis career

She has won 13 singles and 13 doubles titles on the ITF circuit. Despite her late run, she played her best tennis over the last few years and qualified for several grand slam events.

She started playing tennis at age 10, with friends.

In 1997 she won ITF tournaments in singles in Jaffa and Antalya, Turkey. In 1998 she repeated in Jaffa.

In 1999 she won in Guimaraes, Portugal, and Azemeis, Portugal, and 2 tournaments in Istanbul, Turkey. In 2000 she won tournaments in Ashkelon and Beersheba in Israel.

In 2002 she won in Mumbai, India, and Nonthaburi, Thailand. In November she defeated world # 62 Emmanuelle Gagliardi of Switzerland 6–7(2), 6–3, 6–2 in France. In 2003 in India she had an upset win over world # 36 Elena Likhovtseva of Russia, 6–2, 6–3.

In 2004 she played world # 1 Justine Henin-Hardenne in the US Open, winning a set but losing in the second round 6–2, 5–7, 6–2. In 2005 she won both the singles and doubles (with Shahar Pe'er) titles in Raanana, Israel. She also upset world # 47 Émilie Loit of France in the Australian Open, 7–6(11), 6–4.

In 2006, she managed to get further than the 2nd-round of a WTA event in her first event of the year at Auckland and at Guangzhou in late September. In Auckland, she reached the quarterfinals with two good wins over Jamea Jackson and the 5th-seeded world # 27 Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia, before falling to Daniela Hantuchová. In Guangzhou, she reached the semifinals of the tournament, along the way defeating world # 51 Elena Vesnina of Russia and world # 20 Na Li of China 6–3, 6–2, before falling to the 4th-seeded Anabel Medina Garrigues in three sets, 5–7, 6–2, 4–6.

Other than that, she qualified for the Australian Open and various WTA tour events, she won an ITF title in Washington, DC, and finally an ITF doubles title in Antalya-Manavgat partnering Romina Oprandi.

In 2007 she beat 56th-ranked Aiko Nakamura of Japan in the round of 16 of the Pattiaya City tournament in Thailand, 3–6, 6–1, 6–1. She also made it to the semifinals in Bangalore and Patras. In August at the US Open she lost in the first round to world # 86 Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark, 6–4, 2–6, 5–7.

On September 30, 2007, she reached her first final on the WTA Tour, in which she lost to Virginie Razzano 0–6, 3–6 at the Guangzhou International Women's Open.

Federation Cup

Obziler was 48–30 in Federation Cup matches between 1994 and 2007, including wins in 12 of her most recent 13 matches.. Obziler was part of Israel's Federation Cup team that won 10 ties in a row to reach the competition's quarterfinals in 2008 – Israel's greatest Federation Cup achievement in history.

Obziler currently holds the world record for most Federation Cup Ties Played, at 61. She shares the record with compatriot Anna Smashnova.

Personal life

Obziler speaks Hebrew and English. After graduating from high school, she served two years in the IDF (the Israeli Army). Obziler is a computer BA graduate from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA. In an interview with "Maariv", Israel's second-largest daily newspaper, she stated that she is gay. She and her partner Hadas have a daughter together named Lihi. Obziler took a break from professional tennis when the baby was born, and came back to play on 2008.

On August 13, 2009, Obziler convened a press conference to announce her retirement from professional tennis.

See also

List of select Jewish tennis players

References

External links

Federation Cup record

Category:1973 births Category:Living people Category:Jewish tennis players Category:Israeli tennis players Category:People from Giv'atayim Category:Olympic tennis players of Israel Category:Old Dominion University alumni Category:Tennis players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Category:Israeli Jews Category:LGBT sportspeople from Israel Category:LGBT Jews Category:Lesbian sportspeople

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