Maria Yuryevna Sharapova is a Russian former world No. 1 tennis player. Although she played under the banner of Russia with the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), she has lived in and been a United States permanent resident since 1994. Sharapova competed on the WTA Tour from 2001 to 2020 and had been ranked world No. 1 in singles by the WTA on five separate occasions, for a total of 21 weeks. She is one of ten women, and the only Russian, to hold the career Grand Slam. She is also an Olympic medalist, having won a silver medal in women's singles at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. Sharapova achieved a rare level of longevity in tennis, with several tennis pundits and former players calling Sharapova one of tennis' best competitors.
The 2005 WTA Tour was the elite professional tennis circuit organized by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for the 2005 tennis season. The 2005 WTA Tour included the four Grand Slam tournaments, the WTA Tour Championships and the WTA Tier I, Tier II, Tier III, Tier IV and Tier V events. ITF tournaments were not part of the WTA Tour, although they award points for the WTA World Ranking.
Tatiana Golovin is a Russian-born French professional tennis player. She won the 2004 French Open mixed-doubles event, partnering with Richard Gasquet, and reached the singles quarterfinals at the 2006 US Open, losing to the eventual champion Maria Sharapova. Her career-high singles ranking is world No. 12. In 2008, she was diagnosed with lower back inflammation and was forced to stop playing competitive tennis.
Maria Yuryevna Kirilenko-Stepanova is a Russian former professional tennis player. A junior Grand Slam champion at the 2002 US Open at the age of 15, she went on to become a top ten player in both singles and doubles. Kirilenko won six WTA singles titles and 12 doubles titles. She was a three Grand Slam singles quarterfinalist, a semifinalist at the 2012 London Olmypics, and reached a career-high ranking of world No. 10 on 10 June 2013. In women's doubles, she became ranked as high as No. 5 in the world on 24 October 2011, and reached two Grand Slam finals, at the 2011 Australian Open with Azarenka and the 2012 French Open with compatriot Nadia Petrova. Along with Petrova, Kirilenko won the 2012 WTA Tour Championships in doubles and was a bronze medalist at the 2012 London Olympics.
Gisela Dulko is a retired Argentine tennis player. Although she enjoyed modest success in singles, reaching a career-high ranking of world No. 26 and winning four WTA titles, her speciality was doubles, where she achieved the world No. 1 ranking and won 17 WTA titles. Partnering with Flavia Pennetta, Dulko won the 2010 WTA Tour Championships and the 2011 Australian Open. She also reached the mixed-doubles final at the 2011 US Open, with Edward Schwank. During her career, Dulko upset a number of top players on the tour, including Maria Sharapova in the second round of Wimbledon in 2009, Samantha Stosur in the third round of Roland Garros in 2011, and Martina Navratilova in the second round of Wimbledon in 2004 and in Navratilova's final Grand Slam singles match.
Victória Fyódarauna Azárenka is a Belarusian professional tennis player. Azarenka is a former world No. 1 in singles, having claimed the top ranking for the first time on 30 January 2012. She was the year-end No. 1 in 2012 and has held the top ranking for a combined total of 51 weeks. Azarenka has won 21 WTA singles titles, including two Grand Slam singles titles at the 2012 and 2013 Australian Open, becoming the first Belarusian player, male or female, to win a Grand Slam tournament singles title. Azarenka is also a three-time major finalist at the US Open, finishing runner-up to Serena Williams in both 2012 and 2013 and to Naomi Osaka in 2020. Her other important singles achievements include winning six Premier Mandatory tournaments, four Premier 5 tournaments, and the singles bronze medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, as well as being the runner-up at the 2011 WTA Finals to Petra Kvitová, reaching three additional Grand Slam singles semifinals, and an additional nine major quarterfinal appearances. She finished with a year-end top 10 singles ranking for five consecutive years between 2009 and 2013.
The 2004 NASDAQ-100 Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 20th edition of the Miami Masters and was part of the Masters Series of the 2004 ATP Tour and of Tier I of the 2004 WTA Tour. Both the men's and women's events took place at the Tennis Center at Crandon Park in Key Biscayne, Florida in the United States from March 24 through April 4, 2004.
The 2006 Acura Classic was a women's tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts in San Diego in the United States which was part of Tier I of the 2006 WTA Tour. It was the 28th edition of the tournament and was held from July 29 through August 6, 2006. Second-seeded Maria Sharapova won the singles title and earned $196,900 first-prize money as well as 300 ranking points.
Els Callens and Meilen Tu were the defending champions but they competed with different partners that year. Callens partnered with Shinobu Asagoe, and lost in the first round to Eleni Daniilidou and Katarina Srebotnik. Tu partnered with Tina Križan, and lost in the quarterfinals to Maria Kirilenko and Maria Sharapova.
The 2005 DFS Classic was a women's tennis tournament played on grass courts at the Edgbaston Priory Club in Birmingham in the United Kingdom that was part of Tier III of the 2005 WTA Tour. The tournament was held from 6 June until 12 June 2005. First-seeded Maria Sharapova won the singles tile.
The 2003 AIG Japan Open Tennis Championships was a combined men's and women's tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts at the Ariake Coliseum in Tokyo in Japan that was part of the International Series Gold of the 2003 ATP Tour and of Tier III of the 2003 WTA Tour. The tournament ran from September 29 through October 5, 2003. Rainer Schüttler and Maria Sharapova won the singles title.
The 2004 Kroger St. Jude International and the Cellular South Cup were tennis tournaments played on indoor hard courts at the Racquet Club of Memphis in Memphis, Tennessee in the United States that were part of the International Series Gold of the 2004 ATP Tour and of Tier III of the 2004 WTA Tour. The tournaments ran from February 15 through February 22, 2004.
The 2012 French Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 116th edition of the French Open, and took place at the Stade Roland Garros from 27 May until 11 June 2012.
The 2012 WTA Tour Championships was a tennis tournament played at Istanbul, Turkey from October 23 to October 28, 2012. It was the 42nd edition of the singles event and the 37th edition of the doubles competition. The tournament was held at the Sinan Erdem Dome and was contested by eight singles players and four doubles teams. It was the larger of two season ending championships on the 2012 WTA Tour.
The 2012 Qatar Airways Tournament of Champions was a singles-only tennis tournament that was played on indoor hard courts in Sofia. It was the fourth edition of the tournament and was part of the 2012 WTA Tour. The 2012 edition was the first held in Sofia, having been relocated from Bali, where the tournament was held for the previous three years and called the Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions. The tournament was played between October 30 and November 4. Ana Ivanovic did not defend her title this year for two reasons: She did not win, or reach, a single final this year in order to gain direct acceptance, and she did not receive a wild card due to her participation in the 2012 Fed Cup finals.
The 2013 Garanti Koza WTA Tournament of Champions was a singles-only tennis tournament that was played on indoor hard courts. The tournament was sponsored by Turkish construction firm Garanti Koza. It was the fifth edition of the tournament and was part of the 2013 WTA Tour. The 2013 edition was the second to be held in Sofia at the Arena Armeec. The tournament was played between October 29 and November 3. Nadia Petrova was the defending champion, but she did not qualify this year, nor did she receive a wildcard into the event.
Results and statistics from Maria Sharapova's 2005 tennis season.
Results and statistics from Maria Sharapova's 2010 tennis season.
The 2006 Generali Ladies Linz is the 2006 Tier II WTA Tour tournament of the annually-held Generali Ladies Linz tennis tournament. It was the 20th edition of the tournament and was held from October 23–29, 2006 at the TipsArena Linz. Maria Sharapova won the singles title.
The 2004 AIG Japan Open Tennis Championships was a combined men's and women's tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts at the Ariake Coliseum in Tokyo in Japan. The men's tournament was part of the International Series Gold of the 2004 ATP Tour and the women's tournament was part of the Tier III category of the 2004 WTA Tour. It was the 31st edition of the event and was held from 4 October through 10 October 2004. Jiří Novák and Maria Sharapova won the singles titles.
Maria Sharapova 
