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Maria Sharapova News
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At the 2006 Australian Open, Sharapova lost in the semifinals to Justine Henin
4-6, 6-1, 6-4, the only match of the year that she lost after winning the first
set. Sharapova claimed her first title of 2006 and eleventh of her career at the
Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, California, a Tier 1 event at which she was
the third seed. Sharapova and No. 4 seed Elena Dementieva became the first
Russians to reach the event's final, with Sharapova triumphing 6-1, 6-2. Soon
after, Sharapova lost in the final of the Nasdaq-100 Open to Svetlana Kuznetsova
6-4, 6-3. Sharapova participated at the 2006 French Open without having played
any of the clay-court tune-ups. After saving three match points in the first
round against Mashona Washington, Sharapova was eliminated in the fourth round
by Dinara Safina 7-5, 2-6, 7-5, after Sharapova led 5-1 in the third set.
Sharapova lost 18 of the match's last 21 points. Sharapova welcomed the onset of
the grass season but failed to add a third successive Birmingham title to her
collection, losing in the semifinals to American Jamea Jackson. For the second
consecutive year, Sharapova was defeated in the semifinals of Wimbledon, losing
to eventual winner Amelie Mauresmo 6-3, 3-6, 6-2. Sharapova claimed her second
title of 2006 as the second seed at the Acura Classic in San Diego, defeating
top-seeded Kim Clijsters 7-5, 7-5. This was Sharapova's first victory over
Clijsters in five meetings. Sharapova entered the 2006 U.S. Open seeded third
after Clijsters dropped out of the tournament with a wrist injury. Favored to
reach the final, she defeated Mauresmo, the top-ranked player in the world, in a
semifinal 6-0, 4-6, and 6-0. Sharapova then prevailed over Henin in the final
6-4, 6-4 to win her second Grand Slam title.
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Maria Sharapova at the Zurich Open 2006 Sharapova won the Zurich Open,
defeating Daniela Hantuchova 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 in the final. Sharapova then won the
Generali Ladies Linz, defeating fellow Russian and defending champion Nadia
Petrova 7-5, 6-2, to take her fifth title of 2006 and the 15th title of her
career. Until her loss in the semifinals of the WTA Tour Championships,
Sharapova had won 19 consecutive matches. She finished the year with a 59-9
record and won more Tier I titles than any other player. It has been announced
that Sharapova will play for the Russian Fed Cup team for the first time in
2007. Sharapova began 2007 by reaching the final of the Watson Water Champions
Challenge, an exhibition tournament and warm-up for the 2007 Australian Open,
where she was defeated by Kim Clijsters 6-3, 7-6. At the Australian Open, the
top-seeded Sharapova defeated the 62nd-ranked Camille Pin in the first round
6-3, 4-6, 9-7 on her fourth match point. The match was played in air
temperatures that exceeded 40 °C (104 °F) and on-court temperatures that
exceeded 50 °C (122 °F). In the fourth round, Sharapova defeated compatriot Vera
Zvonareva 7-5, 6-4. In the quarterfinals, Sharapova defeated the twelfth-seeded
Anna Chakvetadze 7-6, 7-5. She then defeated fourth-seeded Clijsters 6-4, 6-2 in
the semifinals to reach her first Australian Open final and gain the opportunity
to win the only Grand Slam singles title that a Russian woman had not yet won.
However, Serena Williams, ranked No. 81 in the world, won easily 6-1, 6-2.
Williams was the third-lowest-ranked player in the open era to win a Grand Slam
singles title. As of January 27, 2007, Sharapova has a 3-5 record in Grand Slam
semifinals, Sharapova has a 3-8 record against the other top players in the
world (1-3 against third-ranked Amelie Mauresmo and 2-5 against second ranked
Justine Henin). Sharapova is 2-3.
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