In 2008, few players had a brighter, more promising future in women's tennis than Maria Sharapova. She had already taken home two Grand Slam titles, at the U.S. Open in 2006 and Wimbledon in 2004, and would add an Australian Open title to her collection that season.A lengthy run in the upper echelons of the WTA rankings seemed a foregone conclusion for the young Russian.
However, that potential appeared sidetracked by numerous injuries, most notably a serious rotator cuff tear that was found near the end of the 2008 season, and cost her a good chunk of time in 2009. Her world ranking slipped below the 100 mark, and many wondered if she would ever re-capture the spark that had made her one of tennis's dominant young players.
While it took her almost a year to fully regain her form, Sharapova has shown signs of life in late 2010 and the early portion of 2011. While her game is still inconsistent, when she's clicking, Maria shows a lethal serve, along with her trademark aggressive baseline play that makes her tough to beat.
While her Australian Open finish was a bit disappointing (losing in the fourth round), Sharapova's game looks to be rounding into form in recent weeks. She reached the semifinals at the BNP Paribas Open, and has rolled into the quarterfinals at the Sony Ericsson Open this week in Key Biscane, Florida.
More importantly, Sharapova's ranking has risen five spots since the start of the season, as she's currently ranked 13th in the world, and will finish this week having returned to the top 10.
Maria's not back to full power yet; her game is still maddeningly inconsistent on occasion, and her service has had a tendency to get panicky at times. But at just 23 years old, she's just starting to hit her prime, and with the way things have gone recently, the future looks bright for the blonde bombshell once again.
For more tennis news, check out Maria Sharapova: Tennis Hottie Sharapova Is a Perfect 10 on and off the Court.
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