Career
At the age of three,
Sharapova moved with her family
to the resort town of Sochi,
beginning to play tennis at the
age of four, using a racquet
given to her by Yevgeny
Kafelnikov's father. At age five
or six, at a tennis clinic in
Moscow, Sharapova was spotted by
Martina Navratilova, who urged
her parents to get her serious
coaching in the United States.
In 2004, Sharapova became the
second youngest Wimbledon
women's champion in the Open Era
(after Martina Hingis) by
defeating defending two-time
champion Serena Williams in
straight sets (6-1, 6-4). In the
process she also became the
first Russian ever to win that
tournament.
A 6 foot blonde, Sharapova is
regarded by many as possessing a
natural beauty and figure and
has done some modeling, having
signed a contract in November
2003 with IMG Models. She enjoys
fashion and is known to read
celebrity magazines. However,
she says she does not want to
overdo these activities,
preferring to focus on her
tennis. She is often compared to
Anna Kournikova, also a Russian
Bollettieri student and model.
However, Sharapova, Bollettieri,
and Kournikova all reject the
comparison.
From June 2004 until her
Wimbledon semi-final appearance
in 2005, Sharapova had a
22-match winning streak on
grass, including back-to-back
Birmingham titles and the
Wimbledon crown. Sharapova's
huge success continued after
winning Wimbledon, with a
victory at the WTA Season-Ending
Championships and consistent
results.
In June of 2005, Forbes magazine
listed Sharapova as the
highest-paid female athlete in
the world, with annual earnings
of $18 million. A signficant
portion of this amount came from
endorsements.
Defending her Wimbledon title in
2005 proved to be a simple
enough task at first, with
Sharapova sailing through to the
semi-finals with ease without
losing a set. However, she
dropped her first set of the
tournament against a rejuvenated
Venus Williams and lost the
match 6-7 1-6 in one of the most
thrilling and masterful displays
of power and accuracy seen in
the women's game. Sharapova's
streak on grass was ended, as
was her quest for the No. 1
ranking, with Lindsay Davenport,
who lost a historic match to
Venus Williams in the 2005
Wimbledon final, holding firm.
Education
Sharapova studies via
correspondence on the internet
with the Keystone High School
home schooling program and has a
liking for sociology.
Awards
- WTA Newcomer of the Year
- WTA Player of the Year
- WTA Most Improved Player of the Year
- WTA Player Service
Titles (10)
| Legend (Singles) |
| Grand Slam (1) |
| WTA Championships (1) |
| Tier I Event (1) |
| WTA Tour (7) |
Singles (10)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Opponent in the final | Score |
| 1. | Sep 29, 2003 |
|
Hard | Aniko Kapros (Hungary) | 2-6 6-2 7-6 |
| 2. | Oct 27, 2003 |
|
Hard | Milagros Sequera (Venezuela) | 6-2 RET |
| 3. | Jun 7, 2004 | Birmingham, Great Britain | Grass | Tatiana Golovin (France) | 4-6 6-2 6-1 |
| 4. | Jun 21, 2004 |
|
Grass |
|
6-1 6-4 |
| 5. | Sep 27, 2004 | Seoul, South Korea | Hard | Marta Domachowska (Poland) | 6-1 6-1 |
| 6. | Oct 4, 2004 |
|
Hard | Mashona Washington (USA) | 6-0 6-1 |
| 7. | Nov 8, 2004 | WTA Championships, Los Angeles, USA | Hard |
|
4-6 6-2 6-4 |
| 8. | Feb 6, 2005 |
|
Carpet | Lindsay Davenport (USA) | 6-1 3-6 7-6 |
| 9. | Feb 21, 2005 | Doha, Qatar | Hard | Alicia Molik (Australia) | 4-6 6-1 6-4 |
| 10. | Jun 6, 2005 | Birmingham, Great Britain | Grass | Jelena Jankovic (Serbia & Montenegro) | 6-2 4-6 6-1 |
Singles Finalist (2)
-
- 2005: Miami (lost to Kim Clijsters)
Performance Timeline
| Tournament | 2005 |
|
|
|
Career |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
SF | 3r | 1r | - | 0 |
|
|
QF | QF | 1r | - | 0 |
|
|
SF | W | 4r | - | 1 |
|
|
3r | 2r | - | 0 | |
| WTA Tour Championships | W | - | - | 1 | |
| Finals reached | 4 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 12 |
| Tournaments Won | 3 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 10 |
| Hardcourt Win-Loss | 18-3 | 55-15 | 34-12 | 1-2 | 73-23 |
| Carpet Win-Loss | 4-0 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 5-1 |
| Grass Win-Loss | 10-1 | 12-0 | 9-2 | 0-0 | 34-3 |
| Clay Win-Loss | 8-2 | 8-3 | 5-2 | 0-0 | 13-5 |
| Overall Win-Loss | 36-5 | 55-15 | 34-12 | 1-2 | 118-31 |
| Year End Ranking | 4 | 32 | 186 | N/A |