| Fullname: | Maria Sharapova |
| Country: |  Russia |
| Singlesrecord: | 32–4 |
| Singlestitles: | 3 |
| Yearendsinglesranking: | No. 9 |
| Singlesrankingchange: | 4 |
| Australianopenresult: | W |
| Frenchopenresult: | 4R |
| Wimbledonresult: | 2R |
| Usopenresult: | DNP |
| Olympicsresult: | DNP |
| Injury: | Shoulder surgery (October 2008)[1] |
| Notes: | Missed her first Major tournament (2008 US Open) since her professional debut in 2003. |
| Updated: | 3 February 2013 |
See main article: Maria Sharapova. Results and statistics from Maria Sharapova's 2008 tennis season.
Sharapova began her season at the Australian Open, as the 5th seed. She won the tournament without dropping a set (or playing a tie-break set), as she gained redemption following the previous year's heavy defeat in the final to Serena Williams. En route, she defeated Lindsay Davenport in the second round, served three bagels (one each to Elena Vesnina, Elena Dementieva and World No. 1 Justine Henin, whom she defeated very impressively in the quarter-finals)[2] and defeated Jelena Janković (who had defeated the defending champion Williams in the quarter-finals) in the semi-finals, before facing Serbian Ana Ivanovic in the final. In a match dubbed as the "Glam Slam final",[3] Sharapova upset the highly fancied Serb in straight sets to claim her first Australian Open title, and third Major title.[4]
After playing two Fed Cup rubbers for Russia to kick off February, Sharapova then competed at the Qatar Ladies Open. She defeated Galina Voskoboeva, Tamarine Tanasugarn, Caroline Wozniacki and Agnieszka Radwańska (who had benefited from the withdrawal of top seed Ana Ivanovic in the third round)[5] [6] before facing (and defeating in three sets) Vera Zvonareva in the final.[7]
Sharapova then withdrew from Dubai due to a viral infection.[8]
Sharapova reached the semi-finals at Indian Wells for the third time in four years, but was defeated there by compatriot and eventual runner-up Svetlana Kuznetsova, bringing an end to her 18-match winning streak to start the season.[9] Following Indian Wells, Sharapova withdrew from Miami, citing a recurring shoulder injury.[10]
After withdrawing from Miami, Sharapova won her first career clay court title in Amelia Island, defeating Dominika Cibulková in the final.[11] At Charleston, she lost to eventual champion Serena Williams in the quarter-finals.[12]
After deciding to skip the 2008 Qatar Telecom German Open, Sharapova next played at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia, reaching the semi-finals before being forced to withdraw from her match against eventual champion Jelena Janković due to a calf injury.[13]
Following Justine Henin's surprise retirement during the same week as the Rome event,[14] Sharapova was elevated to World No. 1 in the rankings. Subsequently, she was named as the top seed at the French Open, which she needed to win to complete a Career Grand Slam (and thus protect her top ranking). After surviving a close final set against compatriot Evgeniya Rodina in the first round,[15] and another three-setter against Bethanie Mattek in the second, Sharapova fell in the fourth round in three sets to eventual finalist Dinara Safina, having held several match points in the second set.[16] As a result, she lost her World No. 1 ranking, after just three weeks, to Ana Ivanovic, who went on to win the tournament.[17]
Sharapova's 2008 Wimbledon campaign turned out to be short-lived, as she was defeated in the second round by Alla Kudryavtseva, in the process suffering her earliest ever defeat at Wimbledon, and her earliest defeat at a Major tournament since the 2003 US Open.[18]
Sharapova next played at the 2008 Rogers Cup, however she had to withdraw following her second round win against Marta Domachowska due to a recurring shoulder injury, which ended up being serious enough to necessitate surgery.[19] As a result, Sharapova was forced to withdraw from her remaining tournaments for the year, including the Olympic tennis tournament in Beijing, the US Open (thus missing her first Major tournament since her debut in 2003) and the year-end championships.[20] Her withdrawals from those events eventually led to her finishing the year ranked World No. 9, her lowest year-end singles ranking since 2003.
This table chronicles all the matches of Sharapova in 2008, including walkovers (W/O) which the WTA does not count as wins. They are marked ND for non-decision or no decision.
| Tournament | Round | Opponent | Result | Score | ||||
| Australian Open Melbourne, Australia Grand Slam Hard, outdoor 14–27 January 2008 | ||||||||
| 1 | Jelena Kostanić Tošić | 6–4, 6–3 | ||||||
| 2 |  Lindsay Davenport | 6–1, 6–3 | ||||||
| 3 | Elena Vesnina | 6–3, 6–0 | ||||||
| 4 | Elena Dementieva | 6–2, 6–0 | ||||||
| 5 |  Justine Henin | 6–4, 6–0 | ||||||
| 6 | bgcolor=yellow |  Jelena Janković | 6–3, 6–1 | |||||
| 7 | Ana Ivanovic | 7–5, 6–3 | ||||||
| Fed Cup WG 1st Round Hard, indoor 2–3 February 2008 | 8 |  Tzipora Obziler | 6–0, 6–4 | |||||
| 9 | Shahar Pe'er | 6–1, 6–1 | ||||||
| Qatar Ladies Open Doha, Qatar Tier I Hard, outdoor 18–24 February 2008 | ||||||||
| Bye | ||||||||
| 10 | Galina Voskoboeva | 6–4, 4–6, 6–1 | ||||||
| 11 |  Tamarine Tanasugarn | 6–2, 6–2 | ||||||
| 12 | Caroline Wozniacki | 6–0, 6–1 | ||||||
| 13 | bgcolor=yellow |  Agnieszka Radwańska | 6–4, 6–3 | |||||
| 14 | Vera Zvonareva | 6–1, 2–6, 6–0 | ||||||
| Pacific Life Open Indian Wells, United States of America Tier I Hard, outdoor 9 March–23 April 2008 | ||||||||
| Bye | ||||||||
| 15 |  Stéphanie Cohen-Aloro | 6–1, 6–0 | ||||||
| 16 | Eleni Daniilidou | 7–5, 6–3 | ||||||
| 17 |  Alona Bondarenko | 6–2, 5–7, 6–4 | ||||||
| 18 |  Daniela Hantuchová | 7–6(7–2), 6–1 | ||||||
| 19 | bgcolor=yellow | Svetlana Kuznetsova | bgcolor=yellow | 3–6, 7–5, 2–6 | ||||
| Bausch and Lomb Championships Amelia Island, United States of America Tier II Clay, outdoor 7–13 April 2008 | ||||||||
| Bye | ||||||||
| 20 |  Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová | 6–1, 6–3 | ||||||
| 21 |  Anabel Medina Garrigues | 7–6(7–3), 5–7, 7–6(7–1) | ||||||
| 22 | Alona Bondarenko | 6–7(9–11), 6–3, 6–2 | ||||||
| bgcolor=yellow | Lindsay Davenport | N/A | ||||||
| 23 | Dominika Cibulková | 7–6(9–7), 6–3 | ||||||
| Family Circle Cup Charleston, United States of America Tier I Clay, outdoor 14–20 April 2008 | ||||||||
| Bye | ||||||||
| 24 | Bethanie Mattek | 6–0, 6–0 | ||||||
| 25 | Tatiana Perebiynis | 7–5, 6–2 | ||||||
| 26 | Serena Williams | 5–7, 6–4, 1–6 | ||||||
| Internazionali BNL d'Italia Rome, Italy Tier I Clay, outdoor 12–18 May 2008 | ||||||||
| Bye | ||||||||
| 27 | Dominika Cibulková | 6–2, 3–6, 6–4 | ||||||
| 28 | Caroline Wozniacki | 6–4, 7–6(7–3) | ||||||
| 29 | Patty Schnyder | 6–7(3–7), 7–5, 6–2 | ||||||
| bgcolor=yellow | Jelena Janković | N/A | ||||||
| French Open Paris, France Grand Slam Clay, outdoor 25 May–8 June 2008 | ||||||||
| 30 | Evgeniya Rodina | 6–1, 3–6, 8–6 | ||||||
| 31 | Bethanie Mattek | 6–2, 3–6, 6–2 | ||||||
| 32 |  Karin Knapp | 7–6(7–4), 6–0 | ||||||
| 33 | Dinara Safina | 7–6(8–6), 6–7(5–7), 2–6 | ||||||
| The Championships, Wimbledon London, Great Britain Grand Slam Grass, outdoor 23 June–6 July 2008 | ||||||||
| 34 | Stéphanie Foretz | 6–1, 6–4 | ||||||
| 35 | Alla Kudryavtseva | 2–6, 4–6 | ||||||
| Rogers Cup Montreal, Canada Tier I Hard, outdoor 26 July–3 August 2008 | ||||||||
| Bye | ||||||||
| 36 | Marta Domachowska | 7–5, 5–7, 6–2 | ||||||
 Ai Sugiyama | N/A | |||||||
| width=135 | Date | width=225 | Championship | width=150 | Location | width=190 | Category | width=50 | Surface | width=40 | Prev. result | width=40 | New result | width=225 | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 January 2008– 27 January 2008 | Melbourne (AUS) | Hard | F | W | Won in the final against Ana Ivanovic | ||||||||||
| 18 February 2008– 24 February 2008 | Doha (QAT) | Tier I | Hard | W | Won in the final against Vera Zvonareva | ||||||||||
| 9 March 2008– 23 March 2008 | Indian Wells (USA) | Tier I | Hard | 4R | SF | Lost in the semi-finals against Svetlana Kuznetsova | |||||||||
| 7 April 2008– 13 April 2008 | Amelia Island (USA) | Tier II | Clay | DNP | W | Won in the final against Dominika Cibulková | |||||||||
| 14 April 2008– 20 April 2008 | Charleston (USA) | Tier I | Clay | DNP | QF | Lost in the quarter-finals against Serena Williams | |||||||||
| 12 May 2008– 18 May 2008 | Rome (ITA) | Tier I | Clay | SF | Withdrew before semi-final (against Jelena Janković) | ||||||||||
| 26 May 2008– 8 June 2008 | Paris (FRA) | Grand Slam | Clay | SF | 4R | Lost in the fourth round against Dinara Safina | |||||||||
| 23 June 2008 6 July 2008 | London (GBR) | Grand Slam | Grass | 4R | 2R | Lost in the second round against Alla Kudryavtseva | |||||||||
| 26 July 2008– 3 August 2008 | Montreal (CAN) | Tier I | Hard | DNP | 3R | Withdrew before third round match (against Ai Sugiyama) |
Ordered by percentage, number of victories to number of losses, then in alphabetical order
Alona Bondarenko 2–0 Dominika Cibulková 2–0 Bethanie Mattek 2–0 Stéphanie Cohen-Aloro 1–0 Lindsay Davenport 1–0 Elena Dementieva 1–0 Marta Domachowska 1–0 Stéphanie Foretz 1–0 Daniela Hantuchová 1–0 Justine Henin 1–0 Ana Ivanovic 1–0 Jelena Janković 1–0 Karin Knapp 1–0 Anabel Medina Garrigues 1–0 Tzipora Obziler 1–0 Shahar Pe'er 1–0 Agnieszka Radwańska 1–0 Evgeniya Rodina 1–0 Tamarine Tanasugarn 1–0 Tatiana Perebiynis 1–0 Elena Vesnina 1–0 Galina Voskoboeva 1–0 Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová 1–0 Vera Zvonareva 1–0 Alla Kudryavtseva 0–1 Svetlana Kuznetsova 0–1 Dinara Safina 0–1 Serena Williams 0–1| valign=top |
| valign=top |
| valign=top |
| width=75 | Outcome! | width=35 | No.! | width=110 | Date! | width=250 | Championship! | width=60 | Surface! | width=180 | Opponent in the final! | width=230 | Score in the final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winner | 17. | January 26, 2008 |  Melbourne, Australia (1) | Hard | Ana Ivanovic | 7–5, 6–3 | |||||||
| Winner | 18. | February 24, 2008 |  Doha, Qatar (2) | Hard | Vera Zvonareva | 6–1, 2–6, 6–0 | |||||||
| Winner | 19. | April 13, 2008 | Amelia Island, USA (1) | Clay | Dominika Cibulková | 7–6(9–7), 6–3 |