Women’s tennis made sports headlines on Wednesday when it was announced that Maria Sharapova of Nyagan, Russia decided to retire at the age of 32 according to Christopher Clarey of the New York Times. She finished her career with a record of 645 wins and 171 losses for a winning percentage of 79%. Following is a closer look at Sharapova’s five grand slam titles.
1) Wimbledon 2004–At only 17 years of age, Sharapova became only the third youngest player ever to win Wimbledon (following Martina Hingis of Switzerland and Lottie Dod of Great Britain). Sharapova, who was ranked 13th, delivered upsets in the quarterfinals, semifinals and finals. She beat 11th ranked Ai Sugiyama of Japan 5-7, 7-5, 6-1 in the quarterfinals, fifth ranked Lindsay Davenport of the United States 2-6, 7-6, 6-1 in the semifinals and then shocked the tennis world with an easy 6-1, 6-4 win over Serena Williams of the United States in the final.
2) United States Open 2006–Seeded third in the tournament, Sharapova beat first seed Amelie Mauresmo of France 6-0, 4-6, 6-0 in the semifinals and then second seed Justine Henin-Hardenne of Belgium 6-4, 6-4 in the final. Sharapova was dominant over the two weeks in Flushing Meadows. She bageled her opponent four times en route to the title.
3) Australian Open 2008–Seeded fifth in the year’s first grand slam, Sharapova went through the entire tournament without dropping a set. She continued her success over Davenport with a 6-1, 6-3 second round win. That was followed by easy wins over fellow Russians Elena Vesnina and two-time grand slam singles finalist Elena Dementieva. In the next three matches, Sharapova beat a higher seed. She defeated first seed Henin 6-4, 6-0 in the quarterfinals, third seed Jelena Jankovic of Serbia 6-3, 6-1 in the semifinals and fourth seed Ana Ivanovic of Serbia 7-5, 6-3 in the final.
4) French Open 2012–Sharapova became the 10th women’s player all-time to record the career grand slam when she beat Sara Errani of Italy 6-3, 6-2 in the final. Due to her success at Roland Garros, Sharapova became the number one ranked player in the world, and was named the first woman to carry the flag for Russia in the opening ceremonies of an Olympic Games. At the 2012 Olympic Games in London, Sharapova won the silver medal.
5) French Open 2014–Sharapova continued her trend of winning a grand slam singles title in an even year when she beat Simona Halep of Romania 6-4, 6-7, 6-4 in the final. Seeded seventh, Sharapova beat two grand slam champions in Samantha Stosur of Australia in the fourth round and Garbine Muguruza of Spain the quarterfinals.
