2006 Maria Sharapova tennis season

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Tennis player season

2006 Maria Sharapova tennis season

Maria Sharapova won her second Grand Slam title at the US Open.
Full name Maria Sharapova
Country Russia
Calendar titles 5
Year-end ranking No. 2
Ranking change from previous year 2
Australian Open SF
French Open 4R
Wimbledon SF
US Open W
Last updated on: 3 February 2013.

Results and statistics from Maria Sharapova’s 2006 tennis season.

Yearly summary[edit]

Australian Open series[edit]

Maria Sharapova began her season at the Australian Open, as the fourth seed. After overcoming a tricky section which included Serena Williams and Daniela Hantuchová, she reached the semi-finals for the second (of four) consecutive year, where she fell in three sets to Justine Henin-Hardenne.[1]

Indian Wells & Miami[edit]

Sharapova won her first title of the year at Indian Wells, by defeating compatriot Elena Dementieva in the final in straight sets; it was her first title since she won Birmingham in 2005, and it was the eleventh final out of the last thirteen contested in which she won.[2] Her good form continued into Miami, where she also reached the final for the second consecutive year. However, she was defeated in straight sets by Svetlana Kuznetsova; this marked only the fourth final in which she lost.[3] After the latter defeat, Sharapova took two months off the Tour to recover from a foot injury.

European clay court season[edit]

Sharapova was seeded fourth at the French Open. In the first round, she overcame Mashona Washington, saving three match points in the process.[4] She then lost in the fourth round to Dinara Safina (after leading 5–1 in the final set), thus failing to make the quarter-finals of the French Open for the first time since 2003.[5]

Wimbledon[edit]

Sharapova was again seeded fourth at Wimbledon, where she reached the semi-finals for the third consecutive year. After winning her first three matches in straight sets, she was more sternly tested by Flavia Pennetta in the fourth round, but still pulled through in three sets.

In the final eight, she faced first-time Wimbledon quarter-finalist Elena Dementieva and won through in straight sets after a streaker briefly interrupted the match in the second set.[6]

In the semi-finals, she lost to Amélie Mauresmo, who eventually captured the title.[7] This marked the fifth time since her Wimbledon victory in 2004 in which she lost to the eventual champion at a Major, and also the fifth time in which she was defeated in the semi-finals of a Major tournament.

US Open series[edit]

In the lead-up to the US Open, Sharapova captured her second title of the season by defeating Kim Clijsters in the final of the Acura Classic in San Diego, and in doing so claimed her first victory over the Belgian in five attempts.[8]

Sharapova entered the US Open as the third seed. She defeated Michaëlla Krajicek, Émilie Loit, Elena Likhovtseva, Li Na and Tatiana Golovin all in straight sets, before being tested in three sets by World No. 1 Amélie Mauresmo, who had beaten her at Wimbledon earlier in the year. Sharapova would be too good for the Frenchwoman this time, winning in three sets, two of which were won without dropping a game.[9] In the final, she faced Belgian Justine Henin-Hardenne, who had previously captured the title in 2003 (and would do so again in 2007), and recorded an impressive straight sets victory to claim her second Grand Slam title at just 19 years of age.[10]

Fall series[edit]

After her success at the us open she won back to back titles at the tier 1 Zurich Open by defeating Shahar Pe’er, Timea Bacsinszky, Katarina Srebotnik, Daniela Hantuchova. She also won the tier 2 Linz Open by defeating Nadia Petrova in the final and thus taking her 5th title of the year.

WTA Tour Championships[edit]

Sharapova qualified for the year-end WTA Tour Championships for the third consecutive year, having captured five titles during the regular season. As the second seed, she was drawn in the Red Group along with Kim Clijsters, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Elena Dementieva. Sharapova went through the round robin stage undefeated, and thus qualified for the semi-finals after finishing first in the group.

The semi-final saw her up against Justine Henin-Hardenne for the fourth time in the year. Sharapova was defeated in straight sets, thus bringing an end to her otherwise impressive 2006 season.

All matches[edit]

This table chronicles all the matches of Sharapova in 2006, including walkovers (W/O) which the WTA does not count as wins. They are marked ND for non-decision or no decision.

Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# P# DNQ A Z# PO G S B NMS NTI P NH

(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (P#) preliminary round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; (G) gold, (S) silver or (B) bronze Olympic/Paralympic medal; (NMS) not a Masters tournament; (NTI) not a Tier I tournament; (P) postponed; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.

To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player’s participation has ended.

Singles matches[edit]

Tournament # Round Opponent Result Score
Australian Open
Melbourne, Australia
Grand Slam
Hard, outdoor
16–29 January 2006
1

1R

 Sandra Klösel

Win

 6–2, 6–1
2

2R

 Ashley Harkleroad

Win

 6–1, 7–5
3

3R

 Jelena Kostanić

Win

 6–0, 6–1
4

4R

 Daniela Hantuchová

Win

 6–4, 6–4
5

QF

 Nadia Petrova

Win

 7–6(8–6), 6–4
6

SF

 Justine Henin-Hardenne

Loss

 6–4, 1–6, 4–6
Pacific Life Open
Indian Wells, United States of America
Tier I
Hard, outdoor
6–19 March 2006

1R

 Bye

2R

 Jamea Jackson

Win

 6–4, 6–3

3R

 Lisa Raymond

Win

 6–4, 6–0

4R

 Shahar Pe’er

Win

 7–6(7–2), 6–1

QF

 Anna-Lena Grönefeld

Win

 6–1, 6–3

SF

 Martina Hingis

Win

 6–3, 6–3

W

 Elena Dementieva

Win (1)

 6–1, 6–2
NASDAQ-100 Open
Miami, United States of America
Tier I
Hard, outdoor
20 March–2 April 2006

1R

 Bye

2R

 Li Na

Win

 6–2, 6–4

3R

 Maria Elena Camerin

Win

 6–2, 7–6(7–2)

4R

 Maria Kirilenko

Win

 3–6, 6–4, 6–1

QF

 Anastasia Myskina

Win

 6–4, 6–4

SF

 Tatiana Golovin

Win

 6–3, 6–7(5–7), 4–3, ret.

F

 Svetlana Kuznetsova

Loss (2)

 4–6, 3–6
French Open
Paris, France
Grand Slam
Clay, outdoor
28 May–11 June 2006

1R

 Mashona Washington

Win

 6–2, 5–7, 7–5

2R

 Iveta Benešová

Win

 6–4, 6–1

3R

 Alicia Molik

Win

 6–0, 7–5

4R

 Dinara Safina

Loss

 5–7, 6–2, 5–7
Wimbledon
London, Great Britain
Grand Slam
Grass, outdoor
26 June–9 July 2006

1R

 Anna Smashnova

Win

 6–2, 6–0

2R

 Ashley Harkleroad

Win

 6–2, 6–2

3R

 Amy Frazier

Win

 6–3, 6–2

4R

 Flavia Pennetta

Win

 7–6(7–5), 3–6, 6–3

QF

 Elena Dementieva

Win

 6–1, 6–4

SF

 Amélie Mauresmo

Loss

 3–6, 6–3, 2–6
Acura Classic
San Diego, United States of America
Tier I
Hard, outdoor
29 July–6 August 2006

1R

 Bye

2R

 Vasilisa Bardina

Win

 6–4, 6–1

3R

 Vera Zvonareva

Win

 6–4, 6–4

QF

 Mary Pierce

Win

 6–2, 6–3

SF

 Patty Schnyder

Win

 7–5, 6–4

W

 Kim Clijsters

Win (2)

 7–5, 7–5
US Open
New York City, United States of America
Grand Slam
Hard, outdoor
28 August–10 September 2006

1R

 Michaëlla Krajicek

Win

 6–3, 6–0

2R

 Émilie Loit

Win

 6–0, 6–1

3R

 Elena Likhovtseva

Win

 6–3, 6–2

4R

 Li Na

Win

 6–4, 6–2

QF

 Tatiana Golovin

Win

 7–6(7–4), 7–6(7–0)

SF

 Amélie Mauresmo

Win

 6–0, 4–6, 6–0

W

 Justine Henin-Hardenne

Win (3)

 6–4, 6–4
Zurich Open
Zurich, Switzerland
Tier I
Hard, indoor
16–22 October 2006

1R

 Bye

2R

 Shahar Pe’er

Win

 6–4, 7–6(7–4)

QF

 Timea Bacsinszky

Win

 6–4, 6–3

SF

 Katarina Srebotnik

Win

 7–6(7–3), 6–2

W

 Daniela Hantuchová

Win (4)

 6–1, 4–6, 6–3
Generali Ladies Linz
Linz, Austria
Tier II
Hard, indoor
23–29 October 2006

1R

 Bye

2R

 Eleni Daniilidou

Win

 7–5, 6–1

QF

 Ana Ivanovic

Win

 7–6(7–3), 7–5

SF

 Patty Schnyder

Win

 7–5, 7–5

W

 Nadia Petrova

Win (5)

 7–5, 6–2
WTA Tour Championships
Madrid, Spain
WTA Tour Championships
Hard, indoor
7–12 November 2006

RR

 Svetlana Kuznetsova

Win

 6–1, 6–4

RR

 Kim Clijsters

Win

 6–4, 6–4

RR

 Elena Dementieva

Win

 6–1, 6–4

SF

 Justine Henin-Hardenne

Loss

 2–6, 6–7(5–7)

Tournament schedule[edit]

Singles Schedule[edit]

Yearly Records[edit]

Head-to-head matchups[edit]

Ordered by number of wins

Finals[edit]

Singles: 7 (5–2)[edit]

Category
Grand Slam (1–0)
WTA Tier I (3–1)
WTA Tier II (1–1)
Titles by surface
Hard (5–2)
Titles by conditions
Outdoors (3–2)
Indoors (2–0)
Outcome No. Date Championship Surface Opponent in the final Score in the final
Runner-up 3. February 26, 2006 Dubai, United Arab Emirates Hard Justine Henin-Hardenne 5–7, 2–6
Winner 11. March 19, 2006 Indian Wells, USA (1) Hard Elena Dementieva 6–1, 6–2
Runner-up 4. April 1, 2006 Miami, USA (2) Hard Svetlana Kuznetsova 4–6, 3–6
Winner 12. August 6, 2006 San Diego, USA (1) Hard Kim Clijsters 7–5, 7–5
Winner 13. September 9, 2006 New York City, USA (1) Hard Justine Henin-Hardenne 4–6, 4–6
Winner 14. October 22, 2006 Zurich, Switzerland Hard (i) Daniela Hantuchová 6–1, 4–6, 6–3
Winner 15. October 29, 2006 Linz, Austria Hard (i) Nadia Petrova 7–5, 6–2

See also[edit]

References[edit]

External links[edit]