Maria Sharapova retired from tennis by 2000.
The 2016 Australian Open was a tennis tournament that took place at Melbourne Park between 18 -- 31 January 2016 . Maria Sharapova . She returned to the WTA tour on April 26 , 2017 at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix . The WTA Finals ( formerly known as the WTA Tour Championships short : WTA Championships ) , is a professional tennis tournament played annually at the end of the season for the top-ranked players on the Women 's Tennis Association ( WTA ) tour .