Noughties Review

January 03, 2010

Undoubtedly, Maria has been one of the shining stars on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour over the past decade and as this noughties is over we thought that we would review the highlights.

In the 00's Maria won 3 Grand Slams, 20 titles and was number 1 for 17 weeks.  For 5 straight years (2003-2008) Maria finished the year in the top 10.  Maria's biggest winning streak was in 2006 from US Open to Sony Ericsson Championships where she won 19 straight matches.

In 2001, Maria made her debut on the WTA Tour and the juniors circuit.  Maria played her 1st ever match at a challenger in Sarasota in April and that proved to be her only appearance on tour as she concentrated on playing juniors.  Maria won her first junior title in only her 2nd event in Pilsen in July and continued her good form by winning 2 more tournaments.

2002 was a year of continued progress as she made her mark on the junior circuit by reaching 2 Grand Slam finals (Australian Open and Wimbledon) and recorded a career high ranking of 6.  After reaching the final at Wimbledon, Maria decided to concentrate on the pro circuit.  2002 was the year Maria played her first professional tournament as she was granted a wildcard into the main draw at Indian Wells at the age of 14.  She did herself justice as she won her 1st round match before coming unstuck against multiple Grand Slam champion Monica Seles.  Maria then started to win tournaments in Gunma, Vancouver and Peachtree on the challenger circuit.

At the Australian Open in 2003, Maria played her 1st Grand Slam and battled through qualifying to play her first maindraw match.  The grass season proved to be a big highlight of 2003 as she reached her first semi-final in Birmingham defeating #1 seed Elena Dementieva along the way and then a few weeks later made a big splash at Wimbledon where she reached the 4th round .  At the beginning of October, Maria scored her 1st ever tournament title as she won Tokyo at the age of 16, Maria proved that win was no fluke as she followed up a few weeks later with a title in Quebec City.  Maria finished the year with a ranking of 32.

Even though,  Maria didn't win a Grand Slam in 2005 she had a very solid year in winning 3 titles in Tokyo, Doha and Birmingham.  In August, Maria became the first Russian and 16th woman to reach #1 and spent 7 weeks there in 2005.   Maria reached the semis at the Australian Open, Wimbledon and US Open and again finished the year at #4.

In 2006, Maria won her 2nd Grand Slam title at the US Open in one of her best years to date.  Maria defeated world #1 and #2 Amelie Mauresmo and Justine Henin-Hardenne in the semis and final respectively.  Maria won 4 other titles at Indian Wells, San Diego, Zurich and Linz and finished the year at #2. In 2007, Maria won 1 title at San Diego and reached the final of the Australian Open and a career best semi at Roland Garros.  Towards the end of the year it was touch and go if Maria would play in the Sony Ericsson Championships in Madrid but she did and reached the final against Justine Henin in probably one of the best matches in recent times.  For the 4th straight year in a row, Maria finished the year in the top 5.

Maria started 2008 with a bang as she won her 3rd Grand Slam at the Australian giving world #1 Henin her first loss since Wimbledon in probably one of Maria's best played matches.  Maria followed up her good form as she won Doha and took her 1st tournament win on clay at Amelia Island.  Unfortunately Maria's year was cut short because of a shoulder injury but despite this, she managed to finish the year in the top 10, sneaking in at #9.

2009 was the year of the comeback for Maria as she returned to the tour in May in Warsaw and in only her 2nd tournament back reached the quarters at Roland Garros which proved to be her best Grand Slam performance of the year.  Maria won her 1st title of the year in Tokyo and finished the year at #14.

We are sure that everyone is hoping the next decade will be as good as the last one.

Resources : http://www.mariasharapova.com/