Five-times grand slam champion Maria Sharapova is seeking to have her two-year doping ban wiped out or reduced as she lodged an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Tuesday.
Martina Hingis cruised but top seed Maria Sharapova had to work a little harder to secure opening victories at the Pacific Life Open.
Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova, the highest-paid woman in sports, said on Monday that she failed a drug test at the Australian Open due to a substance she has been taking for 10 years for health issues.
Fifth seed Maria Sharapova, the last giant left in the women's draw, powered into the Wimbledon semi-finals after being head and shoulders above diminutive Slovak Dominika Cibulkova in a 6-1, 6-1 demolition on Tuesday.
Russia's Maria Sharapova will face Serbia's Jelena Jankovic in the Cincinnati Open final after the pair enjoyed solid victories in their semi-finals on Saturday. Sharapova recovered from a poor start to beat fellow-Russian and world number two Vera Zvonareva 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 to reach her fourth final of the season while Jankovic beat Germany's Andrea Petkovic 7-6, 6-1.
Five-times grand slam tennis champion Maria Sharapova hit out at some media accounts of her doping case that she termed "wrong" in an open letter to her fans on Facebook on Friday. Sharapova, who tested positive for the banned drug meldonium at the Australian Open in January, is facing a suspension of up to four years by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and has already lost numerous sponsorships in the aftermath. The former world number one thanked her fans for their "tremendous outpouring of support" before launching into a critique of what she believed were some inaccurate reports. "A report said that I had been warned five times about the upcoming ban on the medicine I was taking. That is not true and it never happened," Sharapova wrote. The 28-year-old Russian said she was making no excuses for not knowing about the ban that went into effect on Jan. 1, but said that after the first announcement, other notices were "buried in newsletters, websites, or handouts." "Again, no excuses, but it's wrong to say I was warned five times," said Sharapova, who has said she took the drug for 10 years due to a family history of heart issues and diabetes.
A fatigued Sharapova lost to fellow-Russian Elena Dementieva while Williams was beaten Serbian Jelena Jankovic in the semi-finals of the Los Angeles Open.
A lengthy ban for doping would be devastating for five-times grand slam champion Maria Sharapova but she would survive it, Nick Bollettieri, the man who discovered her, said on Tuesday.
In the day following Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova's admission that she failed a drug test, sponsors Nike, Porsche and Swiss watchmaker Tag Heuer dropped her like a hot potato.
Maria Sharapova must be driving herself crazy every time she steps on court to face Serena Williams.
The third seed best her fellow Russian 6-1, 6-2 to win her first Pacific Life Open.
The 18-year-old tennis star showcased her own brand of perfume, line of watches on a promotional tour to Japan
Maria Sharapova made a powerful start to the new tennis season on Tuesday, crushing Kazakhstan's Yaroslava Shvedova 6-0, 6-1 at the Brisbane International on Tuesday.
Maria Sharapova's mix of grit and power were enough to see off American teenager Sofia Kenin 7-5, 6-2 in the third round of the US Open on Friday.
Sharapova, the 2006 champion, had never lost a night session match in New York prior to her first Grand Slam meeting with Suarez Navarro.
The former World No 1, who returned to the tour in April following a 15-month doping ban, started the stronger, breaking Sabalenka in her opening service game, but struggled on serve and soon found herself trailing 4-1 in the first set.
Tennis stars Serena Williams, Roger Federer and Maria Sharapova came in their finest best at the 88th Annual Academy Awards at Hollywood & Highland Center in Hollywood, California on Sunday.
Making her Grand Slam comeback in Paris following the birth of her daughter Alexis Olympia last September, Serena Williams will renew her fierce on-court rivalry with Maria Sharapova on Monday when they meet in a highly-anticipated fourth-round showdown at the French Open.
World No 3 Maria Sharapova withdrew on Monday from the end-of-season WTA Championship in Istanbul due to the shoulder injury that also kept her out of the US Open.
Maria Sharapova withdrew from the Brisbane International on Tuesday due to inflammation around her collarbone and the world No 2 is still unable to hit a serve just two weeks before the start of the Australian Open.
Top-seed Maria Sharapova breezed to a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Swedish qualifier Sofia Arvidsson to easily win the Memphis Championships women's title on Saturday.
Maria Sharapova remained on course for consecutive Madrid Open titles when she recovered from dropping the second set to beat Caroline Wozniacki 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 on Thursday and book a spot in the semi-finals.
Former world number one Maria Sharapova has been handed a wildcard to the Wimbledon warm-up tournament in Birmingham in June.
Caroline Wozniacki put a huge dent in Maria Sharapova's bid to finish the season as world number one by overcoming some distracting bright lights to down the Russian 7-6(4), 6-7(5), 6-2 in their marathon opening group match of the WTA Finals on Tuesday.
Maria Sharapova fought her way into the semi-finals of the LA Championships on Friday with a 6-4, 7-5 win over Polish teenager Urszula Radwanska. Sharapova will face Flavia Pennetta in the last four after the Italian stunned second seed Vera Zvonareva of Russia 6-4, 6-2.
The Russian five-times Grand Slam champion struggled for rhythm initially on the low-bouncing grasscourt at the Mallorca Open but picked up the pace to beat Viktoria Kuzmova 7-6(8), 6-0.
The Russian beat France's Tatiana Golovin in the the grass-court DFS Classic tournament in Edgbaston.
Maria Sharapova shook off the rust to beat Japan's Ai Sugiyama 6-4, 6-7, 6-1 in the first round of the Stanford Classic on Monday. Fellow Russian Elena Dementieva joined her in the second round after beating Britain's Anne Keothavong 6-1, 6-4.
Maria Sharapova will be back in the US Open spotlight on Wednesday hoping she can come up with a winning encore to her electrifying first round victory over second seed Simona Halep.
Maria Sharapova set up an enticing quarter-final showdown with Eugenie Bouchard at the Australian Open following a comfortable 6-3, 6-0 fourth round victory over China's Peng Shuai on Sunday.
Maria Sharapova's Grand Slam comeback ended in the French Open quarter-finals on Tuesday after she was demolished 6-0, 6-2 by Slovak Dominika Cibulkova.
Maria Sharapova came back from a break down in the decider to book her place in the third round of the French Open with a 6-2, 1-6, 8-6 victory over fellow Russian and 11th seed Nadia Petrova on Wednesday.
Five-times Grand Slam champion Sharapova became an ambassador for the UN Development Programme (UNDP) in 2007, but was dropped in March after admitting she had used the banned substance meldonium.
