Maria Sharapova
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of all tournaments for the rest of the season, including the Beijing Olympics, the US Open and the WTA Tour Championships. In spite of that, she still managed to finish the year ranked World No. 9. In October, after a failed attempt to rehabilitate the shoulder, Sharapova had surgery to repair the tear. Sharapova did not attempt to defend her Australian Open title as she continued to recover from surgery. She returned to the sport in March, in the doubles tournament at the BNP Paribas Open, but she and partner Elena Vesnina lost in the first round. After this, Sharapova withdrew from further singles tournaments, resulting in her standing in the world rankings being severely affected. She dropped out of the top 100 for the first time in six years in May, the nadir being World No. 126.
2009: Comeback from shoulder injury
Playing her first singles tournament in nearly ten months, Sharapova made the quarterfinals of the clay-court Warsaw Open in May, being beaten by Alyona Bondarenko. The following week, in the first Grand Slam appearance since her surgery, she reached the quarterfinals of the French Open before her run was ended by Dominika Cibulková. After a semifinal result at her only tune-up event in Birmingham, Sharapova was upset in the second round of Wimbledon by Gisela Dulko, the second consecutive year she had fallen at that hurdle. Sharapova enjoyed considerable success in the summer months, reaching the quarterfinals at the Bank of the West Classic, the semifinals at the LA Women's Tennis Championships, and finishing runner-up at the Rogers Cup to Elena Dementieva. Nevertheless, she was dealt her second straight early exit at a Grand Slam, losing to Melanie Oudin at the US Open, while committing 60 unforced errors and a personal record of 21 double faults. The final stretch of the season brought Sharapova her first title of the year in Tokyo, after opponent Jelena Janković retired in the final. By virtue of that result, she was the recipient of a bye at the China Open, but failed to use it to her advantage, losing to Peng Shuai in the third round. She ultimately finished the season at No. 14, having improved from No. 126 when she started her return. After playing two exhibition tournaments in Asia, Sharapova officially begun her season at the Australian Open, where she was upset in her first round by
2010