US Open 2011 Women's Champion? – Part 5: Maria Sharapova
Russian Maria Sharapova was born on the 19th of April, 1987 and is currently standing at world number 7 in the WTA rankings. After years
of grinding her tennis skills she entered the limelight at the age of 17 when she upset the two time defending champion of Wimbledon, Serena Williams in the final to win her debut grand slam title.
Maria Sharapova was also able to clench her 23rd
WTA title at the International BNL D’Italia held in Rome, Italy this year and she participated in 44 matches, out of which she has won 34 and lost 10.
This year after changing her coach she participated in all the three Grand Slams that had taken place; during the first Grand Slam of the season, she qualified the first three rounds and lost the fourth to Andrea Petkovic due to
inconsistency. Before losing to Li Na 4–6, 5–7 during the French Open earlier this year she managed to reach the semi-final as the number seven seed. At Wimbledon she had a runner-up finish, losing the final against the world number 8 Petra Kvitova.
The Rogers Cup 2011 was her last hard court run where she lost in the third round against Galina Voskoboeva. At Stanford, she was ousted by Serena Williams in the quarter final and before that in Miami, Victoria Azarenka restricted
her to attain the title by defeating her in straight sets of 6-1, 6-4. A semi finalist at Indian Wells, she won the quarter final from Shuai Peng to be murdered at the hands of Caroline Wozniacki. At the Australian Open and in Auckland she had early round
exits. She partook in 6 hard court events and played 22 matches out of which she has won 16 matches and lost only 6.
The 2006 US Champion is looking in vintage form, after a dreadful tennis season in 2009-2010 due to a shoulder injury which required a surgery at the end of 2008. Sharapova has contested in the fourth Grand Slam of the year from
2003 to 2010, excluding 2008 and has a 22-6 win loss record. After she won the US Open title in 2006, in 2007 she made an early round exit, which was unfortunate because in 2008, owing to her injury she was unable to compete. At the US Open in 2009, she managed
to qualify till the third round but lost to American Melanie Oudin. 2010 saw an improvement as managed to break through into the fourth round by out shining Beatrice Capra in the third but was taken out by Caroline Wozniacki in the fourth.
Sharapova can win the US Open with the new improved attitude if she manages to serve well and keep the double faults in control.
Only losing 100 matches in her professional career she has played a total of 503 matches, and winning 403. On the 22nd of August 2005 Sharapova achieved her career high ranking as world number one. Maria Sharapova is
a laureate in tennis history and has been in 5 Grand Slam finals. Her Grand Slam final record is 3–2, winning at the Wimbledon Championships in 2004, Us Open in 2006, and the Australian Open in 2008.
The three time Grand sSam winner is not just famous on the court but also off the court. Concerned specifically with the Chernobyl Recovery and Development Programme of the United Nations, she has been a Goodwill Ambassador of
the United Nations Development Programme since February 2007 and visited Gomel area of Belarus affected by Chernobyl nuclear reactor disaster in July 2010.
Having recently made it to the final of the 2011 Wimbledon Championships and a title win at Cincinnati, Sharapova has a good chance as any and a tad more than some to clinch her fourth Grand Slam win here.
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