Maria Sharapova

Some pictures of Maria Sharapova waiting for her car after her tennis match at Wimbledon.

Full Picture Gallery

Former world number one Maria Sharapova beat 11th seed Nadia Petrova 6-2 1-6 8-6 in an epic three-set battle to make the French Open third round. The Russian, ranked 102 after a year of injury, had a topsy-turvy first two sets and then won a 71-minute last set.

Maria will next play Kazakhstan’s Yaroslava Shvedova. The 22-year-old - a semi-finalist in Paris two years ago - has not played a Grand Slam since Wimbledon last year because of a shoulder injury.

Following her victory, Sharapova said: “These types of matches are very important for me although I spent more time on the court than I wanted to. “But I’m learning new things. It was a great match where I had to fight really hard and that’s what I did. I’m glad I picked myself up and I could win.”

The 22-year-old wrapped up the first set in 32 minutes, taking the last four games on the bounce, but fellow Russian Petrova, who had won just one of her last six matches against her opponent, levelled the match with breaks in the fourth and sixth. Sharapova fought off a break point to lead 7-6 and secured victory with a cracking forehand to win in two hours and 12 minutes.

Maria Sharapova made a successful return to singles from long-term injury with a 6-1 6-7 6-3 victory over Italian Tathiana Garbin in the first round of the Warsaw Open Monday. Sharapova had not played singles since August 2008 because of a shoulder injury although she made a brief return to competition in the doubles at Indian Wells in March, losing in the first round.

The Russian seemed in control of the game against Garbin, breezing through the first set and going 4-0 up in the second, however she wasted a match point at 5-3 and lost the tiebreak 6-8. In the third set, Maria was 3-1 down but regained her composure and took the match with a five-game winning streak for victory in just over two and a half hours.

“I was nervous closing that second set because I had not played for a long time,” Sharapova told a news conference, at which she sat with ice on her shoulder. When asked about the injury, she said “The shoulder did not bother me at all during the game. Right now it is numb, I have ice on it.”

A couple of pictures of Maria Sharapova at Chloe Los Angeles boutique opening party in Los Angeles.

Full Picture Gallery

Some pictures of Maria Sharapova at Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood.

Full Picture Gallery

Maria Sharapova is set to play in the French Open despite her unsuccessful return to action following a shoulder operation. Maria had surgery in October and although she played in a doubles match at Indian Wells last month she then pulled out of the following week’s Miami tournament to rest her shoulder. However, the boss of the Russian tennis federation said Sharapova is aiming to play in the second major of the season, which starts on 24 May.

“I talked to Sharapova’s father recently, and he told me was preparing to play at Roland Garros,” said Shamil Tarpishchev. “He also told me she was set to play one or two preparation tournaments on red clay before the French Open but had yet to decide which ones.” Sharapaova, who will turn 22 on Sunday, missed the US Open and Beijing Olympics in 2008 as well as this year’s Australian Open because of her shoulder problems.

She has slumped to 53 in the rankings but enjoys from the WTA a special injury ranking of four, which she can use for acceptance into Tour events.
That ranking exception is valid for eight tournaments, one of which can be a one grand slam.

Some pictures of Maria Sharapova looking absolutely stunning as she poses for photos at the Sony Ericsson VIP Party in Miami Beach.

Full Picture Gallery

Some pictures of Maria Sharapova looking stunning in a stylish dress as she arrived at the Cole Haan Promotional Signing, Coral Gables.

Full Picture Gallery

Maria Sharapova’s iffy right shoulder is still keeping her from returning competitively in the tennis circuit, and her timetable of recovery remains unclear following two more skipped events this month. Maria has begged for time off from the Open GDF SUEZ tournament in Paris this week, plus next week’s Barclays Championships event in Dubai.

That puts Sharapova on the radar at the BNP Paribas Open at the earliest. The Indian Wells, California event is scheduled from March 11-22. But the three-time Grand Slam champion said in her Web site that she is looking forward to the Sony Ericsson Open on March 25 set in Key Biscayne, Florida.

Sharapova has yet to play in a tournament this year after injuring her shoulder in July. She has skipped the U.S. Open and the Australian Open last month. Finishing 2008 as world no. 9, Sharapova won the 2004 Wimbledon, 2006 U.S. Open and 2008 Australian Open titles.

Maria Sharapova expects to return to the WTA Tour in six weeks and defend her Australian Open title after being sidelined since July 2008 with an injured right shoulder.

Maria’s agent, Max Eisenbud, said yesterday that Maria was on track for the January 7-10th exhibition tournament in Hong Kong. The three-time grand slam champion will then head to Australia for the January 19th-February 1st major.

Maria has not played competitively since withdrawing from the Montreal Open in late July after winning a three-hour match in which she double-faulted 17 times. Medical tests later found a torn rotator cuff tendon in the 21-year-old’s shoulder.

Maria missed the rest of the year, including the Beijing Olympics and the US Open, ending her streak of 23 consecutive major tournaments. She had not missed a major since her grand slam debut at the 2003 Australian Open.

Maria went 32-4 with three titles this year, earning nearly $3 million in prizemoney.