Success Story: How Sharapova Won Grand Slam Tournaments

Maria Sharapova celebrates her 33rd birthday on April 19, 2020. By this age, she managed to become an iconic figure for tennis and last February completed her sports career. Sharapova was the first Russian woman to win all the most prestigious tournaments and stood on a par with Margaret Court, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf and Serena Williams - the only ones who managed to collect a career Grand Slam in the Open era. RT recalls each of her five “crusades” on the courts of Melbourne, Paris, London and New York.

First win: Wimbledon 2004

In 2004, Maria Sharapova spent only the second season at the adult competitions of the Grand Slam series. Nevertheless, by that time all tennis fans had already learned her name. By the beginning of the grass tournaments, the 17-year-old Russian woman managed to break into the second dozen of the WTA rating and gain a foothold in it thanks to the exit to the quarter-finals of Roland Garros. Soon, Sharapova won her third title in Birmingham and was ready to play at Wimbledon at least no worse than the last time she got to the fourth round.

It was not difficult to repeat that result - the Russian woman won the first three matches without losing more than four games. Difficulties began after defeating the American Amy Fraser, when a rival with a higher rating began to oppose Sharapova seeded under the 13th number. However, each of them eventually admitted defeat. In the quarterfinals, the Russian woman beat Japanese Ai Sugiyama, for the first time in the Grand Slam tournaments after recouping after a lost set. According to the same scenario, the next fight with Lindsay Davenport took place, only then Sharapova had to win a tie-break in order to save herself in the second set.

In the final, Serena Williams, the first racket of the tournament and the champion of the last two Wimbledons, confronted the young outrageous tennis calm. Although the American was a clear favorite, she had no strength left for the decisive match. The first set consisted almost entirely of her mistakes, and Sharapova won it with a score of 6: 1. In the second installment, Williams made a break, but the Russian woman immediately won back and continued on to the first title at the Grand Slam tournament, which did not turn out to be very long. Sharapova won the set with a score of 6: 4 and became the first Russian woman to win at Wimbledon. At the same time, she was the third youngest champion of the main grass tournament.

Overseas Victory: US Open 2006

Success at Wimbledon made Sharapova a world star that not only tennis fans recognized and loved. In 2005, she became the first racket of the world, three times reached the semifinals in the majors, but she could not win new high-profile victories. Specialists began to fear that Sharapova would be one of many tennis players who achieved fleeting success at the beginning of her career and then stopped in development.

But this concern did not materialize. The Russian woman was only gaining momentum before a new triumph in 2006. She has already performed only at the most prestigious tournaments on the calendar, and the worst result was a relegation in the fourth round of Roland Garros. In other competitions, Sharapova reached at least the semi-finals. Just before the US Open, she won the tournament in San Diego, defeating Belgian Kim Kleisters in the final.

Sharapova lived in America for several years and was well known to local fans. The Russian woman also liked this tournament - she made it to the quarter-finals, giving only 15 games, and to the semi-finals without losing a single set. Taking into account the performance in San Diego, her series amounted to 20 games won in a row.

The only failure occurred in the semifinals, where the champion of the Australian Open and Wimbledon of that year, Amelie Moresmo, played with Sharapova. The Frenchwoman who demonstrated the best tennis in her career won the second set after losing dry in the first. After that, a little funny thing happened - the Sharapova team began to signal that the Russian woman take a break for going to the toilet, which later was regarded by journalists as a violation of the rules, as the tips of the coaches were forbidden. After returning to the court, the tennis player won six more games in a row, but the scandal did not receive much development.

In the final match with Justin Henin-Ardenne, a Russian woman defeated her opponent with her serve - she hit the court the first time in 72% of cases, and the total number of aces for the tournament brought to 44. Both girls were worthy of each other, but Sharapova was more accurate and stronger, which was reflected in the final score - 6: 4, 6: 4. She won her second Grand Slam title at age 19.

Swift victory: Australian Open 2008

2007 was the year of great trials for Sharapova. Due to a shoulder injury, she missed many tournaments, flew to the US Open for the first time in three years in the third round and after an early defeat at the Kremlin Cup fell out of the top five of the WTA rating. The rescue of the season was helped by the refusal of Venus Williams to participate in the Final tournament of the year, where Sharapova reached the finals as a varnish-loser.

One successful tournament for almost half a year was not enough to be considered a favorite of the next Australian Open. Nevertheless, she spent the offseason clearly with benefit and on the courts of Melbourne began to win one match after another, without giving a single set. Especially difficult were Elena Vesnina and Elena Dementieva, who for two took only five games from their compatriots in the 1/16 and 1/8 finals.

In the fifth duel, Sharapova met the first racket of the world Justine Henin - in fact it was a hidden final, the winner of which could safely count on the final success. The Russian woman won a landslide victory, giving the Belgian only four games in the first installment, interrupted her 32-match series without defeats and continued to climb.

Sharapova spent just as little effort in the semifinals, in fact, defeating Elena Yankovich, who was at the peak, at 6: 3, 6: 1 and reaching the decisive match of the Australian Open for the second time in a row. Only now, instead of Serena Williams, she was opposed by the 20-year-old Serb Ana Ivanovich. Journalists nicknamed this match “Glamorous Helmet Final”, as both tennis players often flashed on the covers of glossy magazines.

The first set was hard for Sharapova. At one point she made three consecutive double mistakes, although she had previously flawlessly filed. Ivanovich took advantage of this to be in two points from the won game. But the Russian woman was able to escape and take the first set. In the second, she no longer left a chance to her opponent and ended the match with a score of 7: 5, 6: 3. The third title in the Grand Slam tournaments appeared in the Sharapova collection, and she became the sixth tennis player in the Open Era, who achieved this at the age of 20.

The long-awaited victory: Roland Garros 2012

Now Sharapova, in order to assemble a career Grand Slam, had to win the Roland Garros. And this was the most difficult test for the Russians. She had few pleasant memories connected with the ground coating, and specifically in Paris she did not go further than the semi-final. Sharapova won her first title on clay courts only after success in Melbourne - because of this, she sometimes called herself “a cow on ice” when it came to talking about playing on clay.

But over time, the Russian woman managed to get used to the slowest coverage. After recovering from a serious shoulder injury that occurred in 2008, her performance on clay courts began to rise. In the unpaved season of 2012, Sharapova has already won tournaments in Stuttgart and Rome. The only defeat she suffered from Serena Williams in Madrid. By the time she arrived at the Roland Garros, she was finally ready.

The draw of the tournament, however, did not favor Sharapova - already in the quarterfinal she could meet again with the American, who had won seven previous in-person meetings. But Williams sensationally lost in the first round to the Frenchwoman Virginie Razzano, missing two match points. Sharapova’s path to the Roland Garros finale was open, and she hastened there at a whirlwind speed - in the first three matches she lost only five games.

The most challenging opponent for Sharapova was Czech Klara Zakopalova, who in the fourth round took one set in a tie-break, but the Russian woman still went further and since then has not lost more than three games per set. Including in the final, in which she beat the Italian Sarah Errani, who suddenly took off at the tennis Olympus in singles, with a score of 6: 3, 6: 2.

Sharapova became the sixth tennis player in the Open Era, who won all Grand Slam tournaments in her career. The bonus was the title of the first racket of the world, which she returned four years later. And the day after the final, Sharapova found out that she would be the standard-bearer of the Russian team at the upcoming Olympics in London.

Hard victory: Roland Garros 2014

A shoulder injury left Sharapova without tennis in the second half of 2013. She did not succeed in returning to her high level next year until the soil came to the rescue. Before Roland Garros, the seventh racket of the world won 12 matches in a row on this surface, which earned her titles in Stuttgart and Madrid.

Once again, Sharapova in the quarter finals could get Serena Williams, and again the American sensationally dropped out long before their potential meeting. The Russian woman did not experience any particular problems in the first week of the tournament, having won all three matches in two sets, but then the performance began, because of which this French Open could be safely called the best tournament in the career of a tennis player.

Sharapova had to challenge the quarter-finals in a duel with Australian Samantha Stosur. The Russian athlete lost in the first set and lost in the second with a score of 3: 4, but by some miracle she then managed to win nine games in a row. Next, Sharapova was waiting for the offender Williams Garbinier Mugurus from Spain. The 2012 champion again won a strong-willed victory after losing the first set. In the semifinals, Sharapova also overcame herself after a lost game and passed Canada's Eugenie Bouchard, becoming the Roland Garros finalist for the third time in a row.

In the decisive match, Maria was opposed by Romanian Simon Halep, who first fought for the title in the Grand Slam tournament. In any other circumstances, the Russian woman would be considered a more reasonable favorite, but not at that moment. Unlike Sharapova, Halep won very quick victories and had to save much more strength in the final.

But the Russian athlete still had something to prove. After two games given at the start, she won five in a row and broke the first game in a break. Next, Sharapova led the score 5-3, but could not immediately bring the match to victory. Halep took the opponent’s serve, pulled the set for a tie-break and won it, starting with four points won in a row. Thus contributed to the fact that in the women's finals of "Roland Garros" for the first time since 2001, the third set was played.

The decisive party also proceeded in equal struggle. Tennis players alternately took someone else's serve, not allowing each other to get ahead. But the last word was for Sharapova - with a score of 4: 4 she made another break and took her pitch to zero. Having won the three-hour match, she won her fifth Grand Slam tournament in her career.