Results and statistics from Maria Sharapova's 2009 tennis season.
Yearly summary
Pre-comeback At the beginning of the year, Sharapova was forced to concede the defence of her Australian Open title, a decision which would see her drop out of the WTA's Top 10 for the first time since winning Wimbledon in 2004.Sharapova pulls out of Australian Open - FRANCE 24 Her continued absence from the Tour also cost her the titles she won in Doha and Amelia Island last year; she also missed both the Premier Mandatory events at Indian Wells and Miami, and subsequently saw her world ranking drop to No. 65.BBC SPORT | Tennis | Sharapova puts off singles return
Sharapova first attempted her comeback by playing doubles with Elena Vesnina at Indian Wells (she did not play in the singles tournament). This decision would backfire, as they lost to fellow Russians Ekaterina Makarova and Tatiana Poutchek in three sets in the first round.Maria Sharapova's return starts with loss in doubles at Indian Wells | BNP Paribas Open
Comeback to tennis In May, it was announced that she would be making her comeback at the Warsaw Open, which she entered as a wild card entry.Sharapova comeback set for Warsaw - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) She eventually reached the quarter-finals, losing to eventual finalist Alona Bondarenko.Maria Sharapova comeback ends in Warsaw - Telegraph In the week during which the tournament was held, though, her world ranking dropped to No. 126, her lowest ranking since 2003, but her run in Warsaw saw her rise to No. 102 in the world rankings.
French Open Sharapova entered the 2009 French Open unseeded at a Major for the first time since the 2003 US Open. In the second round, she defeated 11th seed Nadia Petrova 6–2, 1–6, 8–6. She went on to reach the quarter-finals, where she suffered her worst defeat at a Major tournament, losing to Dominika Cibulková and winning only two games (she had to defend a match point at 0–6, 0–5 down in the second set, in the process avoiding her second career double bagel defeat).French Open 2009: Maria Sharapova and the curse of the cover stars - Telegraph Despite the defeat, Sharapova moved back into the World's Top 100 in the rankings.
Grass court season Sharapova started her grass court season at Birmingham, where she had won her first grass court title five years earlier. Unseeded, she defeated Stéphanie Dubois, Alexa Glatch, seventh seed and future Wimbledon quarter-finalist Francesca Schiavone and Yanina Wickmayer to reach the semi-finals, before being defeated by Li Na there. Her run in Birmingham brought her ranking back into the Top 60.Tennis: Li hands Sharapova Birmingham defeat - Free Online Library
As it was in 2008, her Wimbledon campaign would once again turn out to be short-lived, as she was defeated in the second round by Gisela Dulko in three sets.Wimbledon 2009: Maria Sharapova suffers shock defeat by Gisela Dulko - Telegraph
US Open series Sharapova next played at the 2009 Bank of the West Classic, where she defeated Ai Sugiyama and Nadia Petrova before being defeated by Venus Williams in the final eight.Venus Williams eases past Maria Sharapova whilst Serena slumps against Sam Stosur - Telegraph
She next played at Los Angeles, where she recorded her first career victory against Victoria Azarenka before falling in three sets to eventual champion Flavia Pennetta in the semi-finals. She then reached her first final since April 2008 at the Rogers Cup, falling there to Elena Dementieva in straight sets.
To conclude the US Open series, she competed at the US Open as the 29th seed; this was her lowest seeding at a Major tournament since the 2004 Australian Open. She defeated Tsvetana Pironkova and Christina McHale for the loss of three games each in the first two rounds, but was then stunned in the third round by little-known Melanie Oudin in three sets.U.S Open: Melanie Oudin stuns Maria Sharapova to advance at U.S. Open - ESPN
Fall series Sharapova picked up her first title since April 2008, when she won the Toray Pan Pacific Open event in Tokyo after her Serbian opponent Jelena Janković retired at 2–5 down in the first set. This marked her 20th career singles title.Sharapova lands Tokyo title as Jankovic quits At Beijing, her final tournament of the season, she received a bye into the second round, where she defeated Victoria Azarenka in three sets, before falling to Peng Shuai in the third.Local favourite Peng sends Sharapova crashing Her impressive comeback eventually led to her finishing the year ranked World No. 14, having been No. 126 back in May.
All matches This table chronicles all the matches of Sharapova in 2009, including walkovers (W/O) which the WTA does not count as wins. They are marked ND for non-decision or no decision.
Singles matches Tournament # Round Opponent Result Score Warsaw OpenWarsaw, PolandPremierClay, outdoor18–23 May 2009 1 Tathiana Garbin 6–1, 6–7(6–8), 6–3 2 Darya Kustova 6–2, 6–0 3 Alona Bondarenko 2–6, 2–6 French OpenParis, FranceGrand SlamClay, outdoor24 May–7 June 2009 4 Anastasiya Yakimova 3–6, 6–1, 6–2 5 Nadia Petrova 6–2, 1–6, 8–6 6 Yaroslava Shvedova 1–6, 6–3, 6–4 7 Li Na 6–4, 0–6, 6–4 8 Dominika Cibulková 0–6, 2–6 Aegon ClassicBirmingham, Great BritainWTA PremierGrass, outdoor8–14 June 2009 9 Stéphanie Dubois 6–4, 6–2 10 Mariya Koryttseva 6–3, 6–4 11 Francesca Schiavone 6–1, 6–3 12 Yanina Wickmayer 6–1, 2–6, 6–3 13 Li Na 4–6, 4–6 The Championships, WimbledonLondon, Great BritainGrand SlamGrass, outdoor22 June–5 July 2009 14 Viktoriya Kutuzova 7–5, 6–4 15 Gisela Dulko 2–6, 6–3, 4–6 Bank of the West ClassicStanford, United States of AmericaWTA PremierHard, outdoor27 July–2 August 2009 16 Ai Sugiyama 6–4, 6–7(6–8), 6–1 17 Nadia Petrova 6–1, 6–2 18 Venus Williams 2–6, 2–6 LA Women's Tennis ChampionshipsLos Angeles, United States of AmericaWTA PremierHard, outdoor3–9 August 2009 19 Jarmila Groth 6–0, 6–4 20 Victoria Azarenka 6–7(4–7), 6–4, 6–2 21 Alona Bondarenko 4–6, 6–0, 6–3 22 Urszula Radwańska 6–4, 7–5 23 Flavia Pennetta 2–6, 6–4, 3–6 Rogers CupToronto, CanadaWTA Premier 5Hard, outdoor17–23 August 2009 24 Nadia Petrova 6–1, 6–4 25 Sybille Bammer 6–3, 7–6(7–5) 26 Vera Zvonareva 6–2, 7–6(7–3) 27 Agnieszka Radwańska 6–2, 7–6(7–5) 28 Alisa Kleybanova 6–2, 4–6, 6–4 29 Elena Dementieva 4–6, 3–6 US OpenNew York, United States of AmericaGrand SlamHard, outdoor31 August–14 September 2009 30 Tsvetana Pironkova 6–3, 6–0 31 Christina McHale 6–2, 6–1 32 Melanie Oudin 6–3, 4–6, 5–7 Toray Pan Pacific OpenTokyo, JapanWTA Premier 5Hard, outdoor28 September–3 October 2009 33 Francesca Schiavone 4–6, 7–5, 6–1 34 Samantha Stosur 6–0, 6–1 35 Alisa Kleybanova 2–6, 6–2, 6–2 36 Iveta Benešová 6–4, 7–5 37 Agnieszka Radwańska 6–3, 2–6, 6–4 38 Jelena Janković 5–2, ret. China OpenBeijing, ChinaWTA Premier MandatoryHard, outdoor3–11 October 2009 39 Victoria Azarenka 6–3, 6–7(5–7), 7–5 40 Peng Shuai 2–6, 4–6
Tournament schedule
Singles Schedule DateChampionshipLocationCategorySurfacePrev. resultNew resultOutcome 18 May 2009–23 May 2009 Warsaw Open Warsaw (POL) WTA Premier Clay DNP QF Lost in the quarter-finals against Alona Bondarenko 24 May 2009–7 June 2009 French Open Paris (FRA) Grand Slam Clay 4R QF Lost in the quarter-finals against Dominika Cibulková 8 June 2009–14 June 2009 Aegon Classic Birmingham (GBR) WTA Premier Grass DNP SF Lost in the semi-finals against Li Na 22 June 20095 July 2009 The Championships, Wimbledon London (GBR) Grand Slam Grass 2R 2R Lost in the second round against Gisela Dulko 27 July 2009–2 August 2009 Bank of the West Classic Stanford (USA) WTA Premier Hard DNP QF Lost in the quarter-finals against Venus Williams 3 August 2009–9 August 2009 LA Women's Tennis Championships Los Angeles (USA) WTA Premier Hard DNP SF Lost in the semi-finals against Flavia Pennetta 17 August 2009–23 August 2009 Rogers Cup Toronto (CAN) WTA Premier 5 Hard 3R F Lost in the final against Elena Dementieva 31 August 2009–14 September 2009 US Open New York (USA) Grand Slam Hard DNP 3R Lost in the third round against Melanie Oudin 28 September 2009–3 October 2009 Toray Pan Pacific Open Tokyo (JPN) WTA Premier 5 Hard DNP W Won in the final against Jelena Janković 3 October 2009–11 October 2009 China Open Beijing (CHN) WTA Premier Mandatory Hard DNP 3R Lost in the third round against Peng Shuai
Yearly Records
Head-to-head matchups Ordered by percentage, number of victories to number of losses, then in alphabetical order
Nadia Petrova 3–0 Victoria Azarenka 2–0 Alisa Kleybanova 2–0 Agnieszka Radwańska 2–0 Francesca Schiavone 2–0 Alona Bondarenko 1–1 Li Na 1–1 Sybille Bammer 1–0 Iveta Benešová 1–0 Stéphanie Dubois 1–0 Tathiana Garbin 1–0 Jarmila Groth 1–0 Jelena Janković 1–0 Mariya Koryttseva 1–0 Darya Kustova 1–0 Viktoriya Kutuzova 1–0 Christina McHale 1–0 Tsvetana Pironkova 1–0 Urszula Radwańska 1–0 Yaroslava Shvedova 1–0 Samantha Stosur 1–0 Ai Sugiyama 1–0 Yanina Wickmayer 1–0 Anastasiya Yakimova 1–0 Vera Zvonareva 1–0 Dominika Cibulková 0–1 Elena Dementieva 0–1 Gisela Dulko 0–1 Melanie Oudin 0–1 Flavia Pennetta 0–1 Peng Shuai 0–1 Venus Williams 0–1
Finals
Singles: 2 (1–1) CategoryWTA Premier 5 (1–1)Titles by surfaceHard (1–1)Titles by conditionsOutdoors (1–1)
OutcomeNo.DateChampionshipSurfaceOpponent in the finalScore in the finalRunner-upAugust 23, 2009 Toronto, Canada (1)Hard Elena Dementieva4–6, 3–6Winner20.October 3, 2009 Tokyo, Japan (2)Hard Jelena Janković5–2, ret.
See also 2009 Serena Williams tennis season 2009 WTA Tour
References
External links