2016 Maria Sharapova tennis season

2016 Maria Sharapova tennis season
Name Maria Yuryevna Sharapova
Country  Russia
Singles
Season record 4–1 (80%)
Current ranking No. 6
Ranking change from previous year Decrease -2
Grand Slam results
Australian Open QF
Last updated on: 31 January 2016.
Main article: Maria Sharapova

The 2016 Maria Sharapova tennis season officially began on 4 January 2016 with the start of the 2016 WTA Tour. Following a 2015 season disrupted through injury, Sharapova entered the year ranked as world #4.

Year in detail

Early hard court season and Australian Open

Brisbane International

Sharapova intended to start her season at the Premier level Brisbane International, aiming to defend her title following her victory over Ana Ivanovic in the 2015 final. Sharapova was drawn against her compatriot Ekaterina Makarova in the opening round, but withdrew from the tournament before the match citing a forearm injury. [1] The defeat, coupled with Agnieszka Radwańska's title win in Shenzhen saw Sharapova fall to fifth in the WTA Rankings.

Australian Open

Following her withdrawal at Brisbane, Sharapova officially began her season as the fifth seed at the first major of the year, the Australian Open, a tournament where she defended finalist points following her defeat in the 2015 final to Serena Williams. She began the tournament with two comfortable wins, defeating both Nao Hibino[2] and Aliaksandra Sasnovich[3] in straight sets. Her first significant test came in the third round against #103 ranked American Lauren Davis, losing a close second set on a tiebreaker before winning the final set to love to progress.[4] In the fourth round, Sharapova faced twelfth seed Belinda Bencic, continuing her run of facing players she had never previously contested against. Sharapova continued her run with a hard fought 7–5, 7–5 victory, hitting a career best 21 aces over the course of the match.[5] In the subsequent quarterfinals, Sharapova resumed her one-sided rivalry with world #1 Serena Williams, and despite breaking in the opening game, the match eventually reached a familiar conclusion, with Williams winning in straight sets, extending her 18 consecutive victory streak over Sharapova.[6] Following the tournament, Sharapova dropped one further place to sixth place in the official WTA rankings.

All matches

Tournament Match Round Opponent Rank Result Score
Australian Open
Melbourne, Australia
Grand Slam
Hard, outdoor
18 January – 31 January 2016		 1 1R Japan Nao Hibino #56 Win 6–1, 6–3
2 2R Belarus Aliaksandra Sasnovich #105 Win 6–2, 6–1
3 3R United States Lauren Davis #103 Win 6–1, 6–7 (5–7), 6–0
4 4R Switzerland Belinda Bencic #13 Win 7–5, 7–5
5 QF United States Serena Williams #1 Loss 4–6, 1–6

Tournament schedule

Singles schedule

Sharapova's 2016 singles tournament schedule is as follows:

Date Championship Location Category Surface Points Outcome
4 January –
9 January 		Brisbane International Brisbane WTA Premier Hard 0 Withdrew due to left forearm injury
18 January –
31 January 		Australian Open Melbourne Grand Slam Hard 430 Quarterfinals
lost to United States S Williams, 4–6, 1–6
Total year-end points 430

Yearly records

Head-to-head matchups

Ordered by number of wins

See also

References

External links

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