Sharapova also beat the current world number one Jelena Jankovic of Serbia 6-3, 6-1 in the semifinals. The Russian while sitting on the sidelines must also see her ranking fall from a current WTA Tour world ranking of nine to out of the top twenty during her continued period of inactivity.
Last year Sharapova compiled a very respectable WTA Tour record of 32-4 before ending her season in August. In her last tournament of that year at the Rogers Cup at Montreal, Canada, Sharapova received a first round bye.
She then defeated Marta Domachowska of Poland 7-5, 5-7, 6-2 in a second round match which lasted two hours and fifty-five minutes. Sharapova, clearly suffering from an injured shoulder in what would be her last WTA Tour match played, doublefaulted 17 times and received treatment twice for her shoulder. She would withdraw from the tournament after the match.
Earlier last year after taking tournament titles at Doha, Qatar and Amelia, Island, Florida, Sharapova suffered numerous uncharacteristic early round losses before announcing she would be taking the rest of the year off.
Sharapova then later disclosed that during the period of time, she had undergone surgery to repair her injured shoulder.
“We were working hard on my strength and building up all the muscles around my shoulder. My shoulder is doing great,” she said. “But I just started training a few weeks ago and I am just not near the level I need to be to compete at the highest levels.”
The Australian Open begins January 19th.
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