 Maria Sharapova won her first clay court title at Amelia Island | |
| Full name | Maria Sharapova |
|---|---|
| Country |  Russia |
| Singles | |
| Season record | 32–4 |
| Calendar titles | 3 |
| Year-end ranking | No. 9 |
| Ranking change from previous year |  4 |
| Grand Slam & significant results | |
| Australian Open | W |
| French Open | 4R |
| Wimbledon | 2R |
| US Open | DNP |
| Olympic Games | DNP |
| Injuries | |
| Injuries | Shoulder surgery (October 2008) [1] |
| Last updated on: 3 February 2013. | |
Results and statistics from Maria Sharapova's 2008 tennis season.
Sharapova began her season at the Australian Open, as the 5th seed. She won the tournament without dropping a set (or playing a tie-break set), as she gained redemption following the previous year's heavy defeat in the final to Serena Williams. En route, she defeated Lindsay Davenport in the second round, served three bagels (one each to Elena Vesnina, Elena Dementieva and World No. 1 Justine Henin, whom she defeated very impressively in the quarter-finals) [2] and defeated Jelena Janković (who had defeated the defending champion Williams in the quarter-finals) in the semi-finals, before facing Serbian Ana Ivanovic in the final. In a match dubbed as the "Glam Slam final", [3] Sharapova upset the highly fancied Serb in straight sets to claim her first Australian Open title, and third Major title. [4]
After playing two Fed Cup rubbers for Russia to kick off February, Sharapova then competed at the Qatar Ladies Open. She defeated Galina Voskoboeva, Tamarine Tanasugarn, Caroline Wozniacki and Agnieszka Radwańska (who had benefited from the withdrawal of top seed Ana Ivanovic in the third round) [5] [6] before facing (and defeating in three sets) Vera Zvonareva in the final. [7]
Sharapova then withdrew from Dubai due to a viral infection. [8]
Sharapova reached the semi-finals at Indian Wells for the third time in four years, but was defeated there by compatriot and eventual runner-up Svetlana Kuznetsova, bringing an end to her 18-match winning streak to start the season. [9] Following Indian Wells, Sharapova withdrew from Miami, citing a recurring shoulder injury. [10]
After withdrawing from Miami, Sharapova won her first career clay court title in Amelia Island, defeating Dominika Cibulková in the final. [11] At Charleston, she lost to eventual champion Serena Williams in the quarter-finals. [12]
After deciding to skip the 2008 Qatar Telecom German Open, Sharapova next played at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia, reaching the semi-finals before being forced to withdraw from her match against eventual champion Jelena Janković due to a calf injury. [13]
Following Justine Henin's surprise retirement during the same week as the Rome event, [14] Sharapova was elevated to World No. 1 in the rankings. Subsequently, she was named as the top seed at the French Open, which she needed to win to complete a Career Grand Slam (and thus protect her top ranking). After surviving a close final set against compatriot Evgeniya Rodina in the first round, [15] and another three-setter against Bethanie Mattek in the second, Sharapova fell in the fourth round in three sets to eventual finalist Dinara Safina, having held several match points in the second set. [16] As a result, she lost her World No. 1 ranking, after just three weeks, to Ana Ivanovic, who went on to win the tournament. [17]
Sharapova's 2008 Wimbledon campaign turned out to be short-lived, as she was defeated in the second round by Alla Kudryavtseva, in the process suffering her earliest ever defeat at Wimbledon, and her earliest defeat at a Major tournament since the 2003 US Open. [18]
Sharapova next played at the 2008 Rogers Cup, however she had to withdraw following her second round win against Marta Domachowska due to a recurring shoulder injury, which ended up being serious enough to necessitate surgery. [19] As a result, Sharapova was forced to withdraw from her remaining tournaments for the year, including the Olympic tennis tournament in Beijing, the US Open (thus missing her first Major tournament since her debut in 2003) and the year-end championships. [20] Her withdrawals from those events eventually led to her finishing the year ranked World No. 9, her lowest year-end singles ranking since 2003.
This table chronicles all the matches of Sharapova in 2008, including walkovers (W/O) which the WTA does not count as wins. They are marked ND for non-decision or no decision.
| W | F | SF | QF | #R | RR | Q# | P# | DNQ | A | Z# | PO | G | S | B | NMS | NTI | P | NH |
| Tournament | # | Round | Opponent | Result | Score | |||
| Australian Open Melbourne, Australia Grand Slam Hard, outdoor 14–27 January 2008 | ||||||||
| 1 | 1R |  Jelena Kostanić Tošić | Win | 6–4, 6–3 | ||||
| 2 | 2R |  Lindsay Davenport | Win | 6–1, 6–3 | ||||
| 3 | 3R | Elena Vesnina | Win | 6–3, 6–0 | ||||
| 4 | 4R | Elena Dementieva | Win | 6–2, 6–0 | ||||
| 5 | QF |  Justine Henin | Win | 6–4, 6–0 | ||||
| 6 | SF |  Jelena Janković | Win | 6–3, 6–1 | ||||
| 7 | W | Ana Ivanovic | 7–5, 6–3 | |||||
| Fed Cup WG 1st Round Ramat HaSharon, Israel Hard, indoor 2–3 February 2008 | 8 | 1R R2 |  Tzipora Obziler | Win | 6–0, 6–4 | |||
| 9 | 1R R3 | Shahar Pe'er | Win | 6–1, 6–1 | ||||
| Qatar Ladies Open Doha, Qatar Tier I Hard, outdoor 18–24 February 2008 | ||||||||
1R | Bye | |||||||
| 10 | 2R | Galina Voskoboeva | Win | 6–4, 4–6, 6–1 | ||||
| 11 | 3R |  Tamarine Tanasugarn | Win | 6–2, 6–2 | ||||
| 12 | QF |  Caroline Wozniacki | Win | 6–0, 6–1 | ||||
| 13 | SF |  Agnieszka Radwańska | Win | 6–4, 6–3 | ||||
| 14 | W | Vera Zvonareva | 6–1, 2–6, 6–0 | |||||
| Pacific Life Open Indian Wells, United States of America Tier I Hard, outdoor 9 March–23 April 2008 | ||||||||
1R | Bye | |||||||
| 15 | 2R |  Stéphanie Cohen-Aloro | Win | 6–1, 6–0 | ||||
| 16 | 3R |  Eleni Daniilidou | Win | 7–5, 6–3 | ||||
| 17 | 4R |  Alona Bondarenko | Win | 6–2, 5–7, 6–4 | ||||
| 18 | QF |  Daniela Hantuchová | Win | 7–6(7–2), 6–1 | ||||
| 19 | SF | Svetlana Kuznetsova | Loss | 3–6, 7–5, 2–6 | ||||
| Bausch and Lomb Championships Amelia Island, United States of America Tier II Clay, outdoor 7–13 April 2008 | ||||||||
1R | Bye | |||||||
| 20 | 2R |  Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová | Win | 6–1, 6–3 | ||||
| 21 | 3R |  Anabel Medina Garrigues | Win | 7–6(7–3), 5–7, 7–6(7–1) | ||||
| 22 | QF | Alona Bondarenko | Win | 6–7(9–11), 6–3, 6–2 | ||||
SF | Lindsay Davenport | Walkover | N/A | |||||
| 23 | W | Dominika Cibulková | Win (3) | 7–6(9–7), 6–3 | ||||
| Family Circle Cup Charleston, United States of America Tier I Clay, outdoor 14–20 April 2008 | ||||||||
1R | Bye | |||||||
| 24 | 2R | Bethanie Mattek | Win | 6–0, 6–0 | ||||
| 25 | 3R | Tatiana Perebiynis | Win | 7–5, 6–2 | ||||
| 26 | QF | Serena Williams | Loss | 5–7, 6–4, 1–6 | ||||
| Internazionali BNL d'Italia Rome, Italy Tier I Clay, outdoor 12–18 May 2008 | ||||||||
1R | Bye | |||||||
| 27 | 2R | Dominika Cibulková | Win | 6–2, 3–6, 6–4 | ||||
| 28 | 3R | Caroline Wozniacki | Win | 6–4, 7–6(7–3) | ||||
| 29 | QF |  Patty Schnyder | Win | 6–7(3–7), 7–5, 6–2 | ||||
SF | Jelena Janković | Withdrew | N/A | |||||
| French Open Paris, France Grand Slam Clay, outdoor 25 May–8 June 2008 | ||||||||
| 30 | 1R | Evgeniya Rodina | Win | 6–1, 3–6, 8–6 | ||||
| 31 | 2R | Bethanie Mattek | Win | 6–2, 3–6, 6–2 | ||||
| 32 | 3R |  Karin Knapp | Win | 7–6(7–4), 6–0 | ||||
| 33 | 4R | Dinara Safina | Loss | 7–6(8–6), 6–7(5–7), 2–6 | ||||
| The Championships, Wimbledon London, Great Britain Grand Slam Grass, outdoor 23 June–6 July 2008 | ||||||||
| 34 | 1R | Stéphanie Foretz | Win | 6–1, 6–4 | ||||
| 35 | 2R | Alla Kudryavtseva | Loss | 2–6, 4–6 | ||||
| Rogers Cup Montreal, Canada Tier I Hard, outdoor 26 July–3 August 2008 | ||||||||
1R | Bye | |||||||
| 36 | 2R | Marta Domachowska | Win | 7–5, 5–7, 6–2 | ||||
3R |  Ai Sugiyama | Withdrew | N/A | |||||
| Date | Championship | Location | Category | Surface | Prev. result | New result | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 January 2008– 27 January 2008 | Australian Open | Melbourne (AUS) | Grand Slam tournament | Hard | F | W | Won in the final against Ana Ivanovic |
| 18 February 2008– 24 February 2008 | Qatar Ladies Open | Doha (QAT) | Tier I | Hard | W | Won in the final against Vera Zvonareva | |
| 9 March 2008– 23 March 2008 | Pacific Life Open | Indian Wells (USA) | Tier I | Hard | 4R | SF | Lost in the semi-finals against Svetlana Kuznetsova |
| 7 April 2008– 13 April 2008 | Bausch and Lomb Championships | Amelia Island (USA) | Tier II | Clay | DNP | W | Won in the final against Dominika Cibulková |
| 14 April 2008– 20 April 2008 | Family Circle Cup | Charleston (USA) | Tier I | Clay | DNP | QF | Lost in the quarter-finals against Serena Williams |
| 12 May 2008– 18 May 2008 | Internazionali BNL d'Italia | Rome (ITA) | Tier I | Clay | SF | Withdrew before semi-final (against Jelena Janković) | |
| 26 May 2008– 8 June 2008 | French Open | Paris (FRA) | Grand Slam | Clay | SF | 4R | Lost in the fourth round against Dinara Safina |
| 23 June 2008 6 July 2008 | The Championships, Wimbledon | London (GBR) | Grand Slam | Grass | 4R | 2R | Lost in the second round against Alla Kudryavtseva |
| 26 July 2008– 3 August 2008 | Rogers Cup | Montreal (CAN) | Tier I | Hard | DNP | 3R | Withdrew before third round match (against Ai Sugiyama) |
Ordered by percentage, number of victories to number of losses, then in alphabetical order
Alona Bondarenko 2–0 Dominika Cibulková 2–0 Bethanie Mattek 2–0 Caroline Wozniacki 2–0 Stéphanie Cohen-Aloro 1–0 Eleni Daniilidou 1–0 Lindsay Davenport 1–0 Elena Dementieva 1–0 Marta Domachowska 1–0 Stéphanie Foretz 1–0 Daniela Hantuchová 1–0 Justine Henin 1–0 Ana Ivanovic 1–0 Jelena Janković 1–0 Karin Knapp 1–0 Anabel Medina Garrigues 1–0 Tzipora Obziler 1–0 Shahar Pe'er 1–0 Agnieszka Radwańska 1–0 Evgeniya Rodina 1–0 Tamarine Tanasugarn 1–0 Jelena Kostanić Tošić 1–0 Tatiana Perebiynis 1–0 Patty Schnyder 1–0 Elena Vesnina 1–0 Galina Voskoboeva 1–0 Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová 1–0 Vera Zvonareva 1–0 Alla Kudryavtseva 0–1 Svetlana Kuznetsova 0–1 Dinara Safina 0–1 Serena Williams 0–1
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| Outcome | No. | Date | Championship | Surface | Opponent in the final | Score in the final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winner | 17. | January 26, 2008 |  Melbourne, Australia (1) | Hard | Ana Ivanovic | 7–5, 6–3 |
| Winner | 18. | February 24, 2008 |  Doha, Qatar (2) | Hard | Vera Zvonareva | 6–1, 2–6, 6–0 |
| Winner | 19. | April 13, 2008 | Amelia Island, USA (1) | Clay | Dominika Cibulková | 7–6(9–7), 6–3 |
Ana Schweinsteiger is a Serbian former world No. 1 tennis player. She claimed the top ranking after winning the 2008 French Open, and held the position for a total of 12 weeks. She was also the runner-up at the 2007 French Open and the 2008 Australian Open, losing to Justine Henin and Maria Sharapova respectively. She qualified for the year-end WTA Tour Championships three times, in 2007, 2008 and 2014 and won the year-end WTA Tournament of Champions twice, in 2010 and 2011.
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Maria Sharapova defeated Justine Henin-Hardenne in the final, 6–4, 6–4 to win the women's singles tennis title at the 2006 US Open. It was her second major title. She lost just one set during the tournament. By reaching the final, Henin-Hardenne became the eighth woman to reach all four major finals in a calendar year.
The 2007 Sony Ericsson WTA Tour was the elite professional tennis circuit organized by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for the 2007 tennis season. The calendar comprises the Grand Slam tournaments, the WTA Tier I-IV Events, the Fed Cup and the year-end championships.
Two-time defending champion Justine Henin defeated Ana Ivanovic in the final, 6–1, 6–2 to win the women's singles tennis title at the 2007 French Open. It was her fourth French Open title and sixth major title overall. For the second consecutive year, Henin won the title without losing a set or facing a tiebreak in any set during the tournament. Ivanovic became the first player representing Serbia to reach a major final.
The 2008 Sony Ericsson WTA Tour was the elite professional tennis circuit organized by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for the 2008 tennis season. The 2008 WTA Tour calendar comprises the Grand Slam tournaments, the WTA Tier I-IV Events, the Fed Cup, the year-end championships, and the tennis event at the Beijing Summer Olympic Games.
The 2008 WTA Tour Championships was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 38th edition of the year-end singles championships, the 33rd edition of the year-end doubles championships, and is part of the 2008 WTA Tour. It took place at the Khalifa International Tennis Complex in Doha, Qatar, from 4 November through 9 November 2008.
Justine Henin defeated Svetlana Kuznetsova in the final, 6–1, 6–3 to win the women's singles tennis title at the 2007 US Open. She did not lose a set during the tournament. It was her second US Open, her seventh and last major title and final US Open appearance.
Ana Ivanovic defeated Dinara Safina in the final, 6–4, 6–3 to win the women's singles tennis title at the 2008 French Open. It was her first and only major singles title. With the win, Ivanovic also became the world No. 1; Maria Sharapova, Jelena Janković and Svetlana Kuznetsova were also in contention for the top ranking. Ivanovic dropped only one set during the tournament, to Janković in the semifinals.
This page covers all the important events in the sport of tennis in 2008. Primarily, it provides the results of notable tournaments throughout the year on both the ATP and WTA Tours, the Davis Cup, the Fed Cup, and the Olympics.
Maria Sharapova defeated Ana Ivanovic in the final, 7–5, 6–3 to win the women's singles tennis title at the 2008 Australian Open. It was her third major singles title, and she became the first Russian to win the title. She did not lose a set during the tournament or face a tiebreak in any set. It was Ivanovic's second runner-up finish in as many major finals, though she would win the French Open a few months later.
Serena Williams defeated Jelena Janković in the final, 6–4, 7–5 to win the women's singles tennis title at the 2008 US Open. It was her third US Open singles title and ninth major singles title overall. This was also her second US Open and third major overall won without losing a set during the tournament. With the win, she regained the world No. 1 singles ranking for the first time since 2003. Three of the top four seeds were in contention for the No. 1 ranking at the start of the tournament.
Russia's Elena Dementieva defeated compatriot Dinara Safina in the final, 3–6, 7–5, 6–3 to win the gold medal in Women's Singles tennis at the 2008 Summer Olympics. In the bronze medal match, Russia's Vera Zvonareva defeated China's Li Na 6–0, 7–5. This was the first Olympic medal sweep in tennis since 1908, when three British women won medals in the outdoor women's singles tournament. It was the fifth podium sweep in tennis in Olympic history, all previous sweeps were by British athletes. It was Russia's first victory in the women's singles. Dementieva became the third woman to win multiple Olympic singles medals, following Steffi Graf and Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, and the first to do so in non-consecutive Games.
The 2008 Qatar Telecom German Open was a women's tennis event that was played from 5 May to 11 May 2008. It was one of two Tier I events that took place on red clay in the build-up to the second Grand Slam of the year, the French Open. It was played at the Rot-Weiss Tennis Club in the German capital of Berlin. The tournaments offered a total prize fund of US$1,300,000 across all rounds.
Venus Williams defeated Vera Zvonareva in the final, 6–7(5–7), 6–0, 6–2 to win the singles tennis title at the 2008 WTA Tour Championships. It was her first Tour Finals title.
Defending champion Justine Henin defeated Maria Sharapova in the final, 5–7, 7–5, 6–3 to win the singles tennis title at the 2007 WTA Tour Championships. The final lasted 3 hours and 23 minutes, becoming the longest best-of-three-sets final in WTA Tour history.
Jelena Janković is a Serbian former world No. 1 tennis player. Janković reached the top ranking before her career-best major performance, a runner-up finish at the 2008 US Open. Janković won 15 WTA Tour singles titles and two doubles titles, with career highlights including the 2007 Wimbledon mixed-doubles title partnering Jamie Murray.
Kim Clijsters defeated Li Na in the final, 3–6, 6–3, 6–3 to win the women's singles tennis title at the 2011 Australian Open. It was her first Australian Open title and her fourth and last major overall, as well as the last singles title of her career.
Svetlana Aleksandrovna Kuznetsova is a Russian former professional tennis player. She is a two-time Grand Slam singles champion, winning the 2004 US Open and 2009 French Open, and finished as runner-up at two other Majors. In doubles, Kuznetsova reached the finals of each Major at least once, winning the Australian Open twice.
The 2008 Australian Open described in detail, in the form of day-by-day summaries.
39 WTA Tour-Level Titles: 36 SGL & 3 DBL | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Surface — Hard  Clay  Grass  Carpet  Category: SGL (Singles), DBL (Doubles) Maria Sharapova Official WTA Profile  Tennisportal | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
