2001 - Played first event of career at ITF/Sarasota, FL-USA (as WC; l. 1r).
2002 - Played first two Tour main draws, reaching 2r at Indian Wells (aged 14y/10m; as unranked WC, l. to Seles) and falling 1r at Tokyo [Japan Open] (as WC); won three singles titles on ITF Circuit.
2003 - First Top 50 finish in first full season on Tour; won first two Tour singles titles at Tokyo [Japan Open] (d. Kapros in final) and Québec City (won when Sequera ret. w/left ankle injury in final); SF twice, at Birmingham (l. to Asagoe) and Luxembourg (l. to Clijsters); QF at Shanghai; debuted at all four Grand Slams, best result being 4r at
Wimbledon (as WC, l. to Kuznetsova); made Top 100 debut on June 16 (after Birmingham; rose from No.125 to No.88) and Top 50 debut on September 22 (after Shanghai; rose from No.52 to No.47); won two Tour doubles titles in fall (w/Tanasugarn); won one singles title on ITF Circuit.
2004 - First Top 5 finish in breakthrough season, highlighted by first Grand Slam title at
Wimbledon; in seventh Grand Slam attempt, d. Davenport 26 76(5) 61 in SF (was down 62 31) and top seed and two-time defending champion S.Williams 61 64 in final; was second-youngest in Open Era to win there (fourth-youngest at all Grand Slams after Hingis, Seles and Austin); other four Tour singles titles of season came at Birmingham (d. Golovin in third-youngest final in Open Era, combined age of 33y/5m, behind 1991 San Diego, 1980 Tampa), Seoul (d. Domachowska in final), Tokyo [Japan Open] (d. Washington in final) and Tour Championships (went 2-1 in RR stage to qualify for SF; d. Myskina in SF and S.Williams 46 62 64 in final, having trailed 4-0 third set); runner-up once, at Zürich (l. to Molik in final); SF three times, at Memphis (l. to Zvonareva), Beijing (l. to Kuznetsova) and Philadelphia (withdrew vs. Mauresmo w/right shoulder strain); QF twice more, at
Roland Garros (first Grand Slam QF; l. to Suárez) and San Diego; fell 3r at other two majors; made Top 20 debut on April 5 (after Miami; rose from No.23 to No.19), Top 10 debut on July 5 (after
Wimbledon; rose from No.15 to No.8) and Top 5 debut on November 15 year-end rankings (rose from No.6 to No.4); won one Tour doubles title.
2005 - Second straight Top 5 finish in season highlighted by rise to No.1 and three more Tour singles titles; went 41-7 through
Wimbledon but 12-5 in injury-marred second half of season; on August 22, became 16th woman (first Russian) to rise to No.1; spent a total of seven weeks at No.1, one initially before Davenport regained it then six more from September 12 to October 23 (lost it to Davenport on October 24); QF or better at all 15 events played, winning titles at Tokyo [Pan Pacific] (d. Davenport in final), Doha (d. Molik in final) and Birmingham (d. Jankovic in final); runner-up once, at Miami (l. to Clijsters in final); SF seven times, incl. Grand Slams at
Australian Open (l. to S.Williams 26 75 86; held 3mp at 5-4 third set),
Wimbledon (l. to V.Williams, ending 22-match grass court win streak) and
US Open (first Russian ever to be No.1 seed at a Grand Slam; l. to Clijsters) but also Indian Wells (l. to Davenport), Rome (l. to Schnyder), Beijing (ret. vs. Kirilenko w/right pectoral strain) and Tour Championships (went 2-1 in RR to qualify for SF; l. to Mauresmo in SF); QF four times, at Berlin,
Roland Garros (l. to Henin), Los Angeles (withdrew vs. Hantuchova w/right pectoral muscle strain) and Moscow; withdrew from Toronto and Filderstadt w/right pectoral muscle strain; began year at No.4, rising to No.3 on February 7 (after Tokyo [Pan Pacific]), to No.2 on April 11 (shortly after Miami) and to No.1 on August 22 (despite inactivity that week; Davenport lost points for not defending Cincinnati title).
2006 - Third straight Top 5 finish in season highlighted by second Grand Slam title at
US Open; d. world No.1 Mauresmo in SF (first win in their four meetings) and world No.2 Henin 64 64 in final (had lost their last four meetings; other four titles came at Indian Wells (d. Dementieva in final), San Diego (d. Clijsters in final; first win in their five meetings), Zürich (d. Hantuchova in final) and Linz (d. Petrova in final); runner-up twice, at Dubai (l. to Henin in final) and Miami (l. to Kuznetsova in final); SF six times, at
Australian Open (l. to Henin), Tokyo [Pan Pacific] (l. to Hingis), Birmingham (l. to Jackson),
Wimbledon (l. to Mauresmo), Los Angeles (l. to Dementieva) and Tour Championships (went 3-0 in RR to qualify for SF; l. to Henin in SF); SF or better in 13 of 15 starts, only pre-SF losses coming at
Roland Garros (after nearly two months away w/right foot injury, l. 4r to Safina 75 26 75; led 5-1 third set) and Moscow (withdrew prior to QF w/right foot strain); 19-match win streak (starting at
US Open and ending in Tour Championships SF) was best of season; began year at No.4, moved to No.3 on September 11 (after
US Open), No.2 on October 30 (after Linz), and could have had No.1 at year's end (in first three-way race for year-end No.1 at Tour Championships, w/Henin and Mauresmo); withdrew from Gold Coast w/right shoulder injury, Rome and Istanbul w/right foot injury and from Montréal w/fatigue.
2007 - Fourth straight Top 5 finish in season highlighted by San Diego title and brief return to No.1; won San Diego (d. Schnyder in final); runner-up three times, at
Australian Open (l. to S.Williams in final), Birmingham (l. to Jankovic in final) and Tour Championships (went 3-0 in RR to qualify for SF; d. Chakvetadze in SF but fell to Henin 57 75 63 in 3h 24min, longest best-of-3s final in event's history); SF four times, at Tokyo [Pan Pacific] (ret. vs. Ivanovic w/left hamstring strain), Istanbul (l. to Rezai),
Roland Garros (l. to Ivanovic; has now reached SF or better at all four majors) and Los Angeles (withrew vs. Petrova w/left leg strain); all five pre-SF losses were pre-QF losses, falling 4r at Indian Wells (l. to Zvonareva), 4r at Miami (d. V.Williams in 3r; l. to S.Williams), 4r at
Wimbledon (l. to V.Williams), 3r at
US Open (l. to A.Radwanska) and 2r at Moscow (l. to Azarenka; w/1r bye, was first time to lose opening match in over three years, since New Haven in August 2004); strugged with injury all season, withdrawing from five events w/right shoulder injury (incl. three fall events) and three w/left leg injuries; spent first three weeks of season at No.2 and rose to No.1 after
Australian Open (spending seven weeks at No.1 to bring her career total to 14 weeks; lost it to Henin on March 19); spent most of season at No.2 but dipped to No.4 on September 10 (after
US Open), No.5 on October 15 (after Moscow) and No.6 on October 29 (after missing title defenses at Zürich and Linz; first time outside Top 5 since first cracking it on November 15, 2004); spent two weeks at No.6 before returning to No.5 on year-end rankings.
2008 - Fifth straight Top 10 finish in season highlighted by incredible start but cut short due to injury; went 27-2 before
Roland Garros, a stretch highlighted by winning third Grand Slam title at
Australian Open (d. Davenport in 2r, Henin in QF, Jankovic in SF and Ivanovic in final; now 3-1 in Grand Slam finals) and two more titles at Doha (d. Zvonareva in final) and Amelia Island (d. Cibulkova in final; was first Tour singles title on clay, having never even reached a Tour singles final on clay before); SF twice, at Indian Wells (extended perfect start to season to 18-0 en route; l. to Kuznetsova) and Rome (withdrew prior to match vs. Jankovic w/left calf strain); QF once, at Charleston (l. to S.Williams); returned to No.1 ranking on May 19, the week after Henin retired and immediately took her name off rankings (held it for three weeks, bringing career tally to 17 weeks); only pre-QF losses came in last three events of shortened season, at
Roland Garros (l. to Safina 67(6) 76(5) 62 in 4r; led 5-2 second set w/mp at 5-3 second set, also leading 5-2 in tie-break),
Wimbledon (l. to Kudryavtseva in 2r) and Montréal (withdrew prior to 3r match vs. Sugiyama w/right shoulder injury); right shoulder injury caused withdrawals from all events rest of season (Olympics,
US Open, Zürich, Linz) as well as two events earlier in season (Miami, Eastbourne); had also withdrawn from Dubai and Berlin w/viral illness; 18-0 start included going 2-0 in Russia's 4-1 Fed Cup World Group 1r win over Israel (first Fed Cup appearance).
2009 - Season of resurgence after nine-month injury lay-off, dipping out of Top 100 but winning 31 of 40 matches between May and end of season (finished at No.14); withdrew from all singles events from January to April w/right shoulder injury (
Australian Open, Paris [Indoors], Dubai, Indian Wells, Miami, Rome, Madrid); played one doubles match, falling 1r at Indian Wells (w/Vesnina); best results in 10 events played upon return were winning 20th Tour singles title at Tokyo [Pan Pacific] (d. No.12 seed Stosur and No.11 seed A.Radwanska en route to final, then won title when No.7 seed Jankovic ret. w/right wrist injury), finishing runner-up at Toronto (d. No.10 seed Petrova, No.7 seed Zvonareva and No.14 seed A.Radwanska en route to final; l. to No.4 seed Dementieva), two SF finishes, at Birmingham (d. No.7 seed Schiavone en route; l. to No.4 seed Li) and Los Angeles (d. No.3 seed Azarenka en route; l. to No.10 seed and eventual champion Pennetta in 3s) and three QF finishes, at Warsaw (as WC, l. to No.8 seed A.Bondarenko),
Roland Garros (d. No.11 seed Petrova and No.25 seed Li en route; l. to No.20 seed Cibulkova) and Stanford (d. No.5 seed Petrova en route; l. to No.2 seed V.Williams); only three pre-QF exits, at
Wimbledon (as No.24 seed, l. to Dulko in 3s in 2r),
US Open (as No.29 seed, l. to Oudin 75 third set in 3r) and Beijing (l. to Peng in 3r); lay-off caused ranking to fall out of Top 100 week of May 18 (No.126; first non-Top 100 ranking since first cracking the elite in 2003), but played first event of comeback that week in Warsaw (rose to No.102 after QF finish there and after
Roland Garros returned to Top 100, eventually getting back to No.14; stayed there for November 9 year-end rankings).
