Sony Ericsson WTA Tour

JANUARY - Withdrew from Australian Open w/right shoulder injury.

FEBRUARY - Withdrew from Paris [Indoors] and Dubai w/right shoulder injury.

MARCH - Withdrew from Indian Wells and Miami w/right shoulder injury (played doubles at Indian Wells w/Vesnina, falling 1r).

APRIL - Did not play.

MAY - Withdrew from Rome and Madrid w/right shoulder injury; in first singles event in nine months, reached QF at Warsaw (as WC, l. to No.8 seed A.Bondarenko); reached QF at Roland Garros (d. No.11 seed Petrova and No.25 seed Li en route; l. to No.20 seed Cibulkova).

JUNE - Reached SF at Birmingham (d. No.7 seed Schiavone en route; l. to No.4 seed Li); reached 2r at Wimbledon (as No.24 seed, l. to Dulko in 3s).

JULY - Reached QF at Stanford (d. No.5 seed Petrova en route; l. to No.2 seed V.Williams).

AUGUST - Reached SF at Los Angeles (d. No.3 seed Azarenka en route; l. to No.10 seed and eventual champion Pennetta in 3s); runner-up at Toronto (d. No.10 seed Petrova, No.7 seed Zvonareva and No.14 seed A.Radwanska en route; l. to No.4 seed Dementieva in final); reached 3r at US Open (as No.29 seed, l. to Oudin 75 third set).

SEPTEMBER - Won 20th Tour singles title at Tokyo (d. No.12 seed Stosur and No.11 seed A.Radwanska en route to final, then d. No.7 seed Jankovic).

OCTOBER - Reached 3r at Beijing (l. to Peng).

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 14 years and 10 months; 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 (d. No.15 Dementieva en route for first Top 20 win; 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 appearance, 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 lowest-ranked (No.15) and lowest-seeded (No.13) champion there in Open Era at the time (has since been passed by V.Williams twice) and second-youngest in Open Era (fourth-youngest at all Grand Slams after Hingis, Seles and Austin); other four Tour singles titles of season came at Birmingham two weeks earlier (d. Golovin in third-youngest final in Open Era, with combined age of 33 years and 5 months, behind 1991 San Diego and 1980 Tampa), Seoul (d. Domachowska in final), Tokyo [Japan Open] (d. Washington in final) and Tour Championships (l. to Mauresmo but rebounded for 2-1 RR record 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 (was first Grand Slam QF at the time; l. to Suárez) and San Diego; fell 3r at other two majors; notched first seven Top 10 wins, incl. Top 5 wins over No.5 Davenport (Wimbledon), No.5 Dementieva (Zürich), No.4 Kuznetsova and No.3 Myskina (Tour Championships); 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); SF seven times, most notably at Australian Open (l. to S.Williams 26 75 86; served for match in second and third sets and 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; l. to Mauresmo); 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; l. to Henin); 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 regained No.1 at year's end (in first three-way race for year-end No.1 at Tour Championships, needed to beat Henin in SF and win title); 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; 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 Grand Slams) 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 (as No.5 seed, did not drop a set en route to title, incl. wins over Davenport in 2r, top seed Henin in QF, No.3 seed Jankovic in SF and No.4 seed Ivanovic in final; now 3-1 in Grand Slam finals) and two more titles at Doha (as No.4 seed, d. Zvonareva in final) and Amelia Island (as top seed, d. Cibulkova in final; was 19th Tour singles title of career but first on clay, having never even reached a Tour singles final on clay before); also SF twice, at Indian Wells (as No.4 seed, extended perfect start to season to 18-0 en route; l. to No.2 seed Kuznetsova in 3s) and Rome (as No.2 seed, d. No.9 seed Schnyder in QF for 300th career singles match win; withdrew prior to match vs. No.4 seed and eventual champion Jankovic w/left calf strain) and QF once, at Charleston (as No.2 seed, l. to No.5 seed and eventual champion S.Williams in 3s); 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 (as top seed, l. to No.13 seed 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 (as No.3 seed, l. to Kudryavtseva in 2r; earliest Grand Slam loss since 2003) and Montréal (as No.3 seed, 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 to season also included going 2-0 in Russia's 4-1 Fed Cup World Group 1r win over Israel (d. Peer, Obziler; was first Fed Cup appearance).

SINGLES
Winner (20): 2009 - Tokyo [Pan Pacific]; 2008 - Australian Open, Doha, Amelia Island; 2007 - San Diego; 2006 - Indian Wells, San Diego, US Open, Zürich, Linz; 2005 - Tokyo [Pan Pacific], Doha, Birmingham; 2004 - Birmingham, Wimbledon, Seoul, Tokyo [Japan Open], Tour Championships; 2003 - Tokyo [Japan Open], Québec City, ITF/Sea Island, GA-USA; 2002 - ITF/Gunma Prefecture-JPN, ITF/Vancouver-CAN, ITF/Peachtree, GA-USA.
Finalist (8): 2009 - Toronto; 2007 - Australian Open, Birmingham, Tour Championships; 2006 - Dubai, Miami; 2005 - Miami; 2004 - Zürich.

DOUBLES
Winner (3): 2004 - Birmingham (w/Kirilenko); 2003 - Tokyo [Japan Open], Luxembourg (both w/Tanasugarn).
Finalist (1): 2004 - Memphis (w/Zvonareva).

ADDITIONAL
Russian Fed Cup Team, 2008.

Coached by father, Yuri Sharapov, and Michael Joyce; mother is Yelena ... Started playing at age 4; at 6, participated in Moscow exhibition that featured Navratilova; began training at Bollettieri Academy at age 9 (required two-year separation from mother due to visa restrictions, finances) ... Also interested in fashion, singing, dancing, movies (favorites are Mona Lisa Smile, Something's Gotta Give, Love Actually) ... Enjoys reading books in the Sherlock Holmes and Pippi Longstocking series ... Prefers Russian and Thai cuisine; favorite dessert is French crêpes w/nutella; favorite drinks are orangina, virgin strawberry daiquiris ... Signed with IMG Models in 2003. ... At 2005 Australian Open, donated value of Porsche Cayenne she won at 2004 Tour Championships (approx. US$56,300) to those affected by school hostage crisis in Beslan.

Official Website: www.mariasharapova.com

- Signed sponsorship deal in January 2007 with Gatorade and Tropicana; was also named UNDP Goodwill Ambassador on February 14.
- Has appeared on the cover of SI, ESPN The Magazine, Forbes (listed as one of the richest female athletes in the world); also featured in People Magazine's "50 Most Beautiful People", Vogue Italia, USA Today, Teen People's "20 Teens Who Will Change the World", W, YM and SPORT Magazine's "21 Athletes to Watch Out For in the 21st Century", among others.
- Has appeared on NBC's Today and Tonight Show, Entertainment Tonight, Live with Regis and Kelly, Inside Edition, ESPN's Sportscenter and Cold Pizza, Fox and Friends, CBS' Early Show and Craig Kilborn, MTV's TRL, Access Hollywood and the Tour's Magazine Show, among others.
- Awards include Tour Player of the Year and Most Improved Player of the Year in 2004, also Whirlpool's 6th Sense Player of the Year in November 2006; also owns three ESPYs, one in 2005 (Best Female Tennis Player) and two in 2007 (Best Female Tennis Player, Best International Female Athlete).
- Along with $1 million in prize money, was presented with a Porsche Cayenne S for winning the 2004 season-ending Tour Championships.
- With Haynes, Kirilenko, Vaidisova, Stubbs, Governor Bush and Capriati, participated in an exhibition in Tampa in December 2004, raising money for the Florida Hurricane Relief Fund.
- Junior highlights include singles runner-up finish at 2002 Australian Open (l. to Zahlavova Strycova in final).