Sharapova first gained attention on the tennis scene in November 2000 when she won the Eddie Herr International Junior Tennis Championships in the girls' 16 division at the age of just 13. She was then given a special award, the Rising Star Award, which is awarded only to players of exceptional promise.She made her professional debut in 2001, and played her first WTA tournament at the Pacific Life Open in 2002, winning a match before losing to Monica Seles. Due to restrictions on how many professional events she could play, Sharapova went to hone her game in junior tournaments, where she reached the finals of the Australian Open and Wimbledon in 2002. She was the youngest girl ever to reach the final of the Australian Open junior championship at 14 years and 9 months.From 2003, Sharapova played a full season, and made a rapid climb into the top 50 by the end of the year.She made her debuts at both the Australian Open and the French Open, but failed to win a match in either.It wasn't until the grass season that she began to fulfill her promise, beating a top 20 player for the first time and reaching her first ever semifinal at the WTA level. Then, as a wildcard at Wimbledon, she defeated 11th seed Jelena Dokic to reach the fourth round, where she lost in three sets to Svetlana Kuznetsova.By the end of September, Sharapova had already captured her first WTA title, at a smaller event, the Japan Open Tennis Championships, before winning her second in her final tournament of the season, the Bell Challenge. To cap off her first full season as a professional, she was awarded the WTA Newcomer of the Year honor.After playing two exhibition tournaments in Asia, Sharapova officially began her season at the Australian Open, where she was upset in her first round by Maria Kirilenko. The loss meant that for the first time since 2003, Sharapova had lost her opening match at a Grand Slam event.Immediately bouncing back, she competed in the Cellular South Cup, winning her 21st career WTA title and first of the year.At the BNP Paribas Open, Sharapova lost in the third round to Zheng Jie, aggravating a bruised bone on her right elbow in the process, which resulted in her eventual withdrawal from the Sony Ericsson Open, and the Family Circle Cup.Returning at the 2010 Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open, Sharapova lost in the first round to Lucie. She continued her French Open preparation at the Internationaux de Strasbourg with her first title on red clay and 22nd overall title.Her brief clay season culminated with a third round loss to four-time champion Justine Henin at the French Open. It was her seventh loss to the Belgian in ten career meetings.maria Sharapova began her preparations for Wimbledon by making the final of the AEGON Classic for the fourth time since 2007, losing there to Li Na. As the 16th seed at Wimbledon, she made it to the fourth round before losing to world No. 1 and eventual champion Serena Williams, despite having three set points in the opening set.The match was seen as another encouraging performance for Sharapova, with some stating their belief that she was approaching the form that would see her contending for Grand Slams once more, and Sharapova herself stating she feels that she is "in a much better spot than I was last year.Sharapova started her US Open Series campaign in Stanford. She won her opening two matches against World No. 23 Jie Zheng and World No. 43 Olga Govortsova in straight sets. In the quarterfinals she defeated World No. 6 Elena Dementieva in three sets and 2 hours and 47 minutes. She then beat World No. 11 Agnieszka Radwańska to advance to the final where she plays World No. 18 Victoria Azarenka where she was defeated in straight sets. Her next tournament will be the Western and Southern Financial Group Women's Open, starting August 9. This will be her debut appearance at this venue. She defeated her 1st round opponent Svetlana Kuznetsova in 2 hours and 12 minutes 6-4 1-6 6-2. In the second round, Sharapova overcame Andrea Petkovic in straight sets. Sharapova then defeated Agnieszka Radwanska for the second time this year where she advanced to the quarterfinals. She then reached the semifinals after she won her match against Marion Bartoli 6-1 6-4. Sharapova advanced into her fifth final of the year after beating compatriot Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in over 2 hours. She then lost to Kim Clijsters in three sets in the final after losing 3 championship points in the second set. Sharapova pulled out of the 2010 Rogers Cup in Montreal due to a heel injury suffered during the match with Clijsters.At the 2010 U.S. Open, Maria defeated Australian Jarmila Groth 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 in the first round. She faced Iveta Benesova in the second round and won 6-1, 6-2. She defeated American wildcard Beatrice Capra 6-0, 6-0 in the third round. This was Maria's second career double bagel. Her first double bagel was against Bethanie Mattek-Sands a few years ago. She faced top seed Caroline Wozniacki in the round of 16, and would go on to lose 3-6, 4-6. Maria had more winners than the number one seed, but commited some unforced errors that made her suffer her Us Open loss.
maria sharapova
maria sharapova
maria sharapova
maria sharapova
maria sharapova
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