Sharapova wins 1st match on return from doping ban
STUTTGART, Germany — Looking relieved, Maria Sharapova went through her familiar routine of waving to the crowd and blowing kisses after winning her first match on her return from a 15-month doping ban on Wednesday.
The five-time Grand Slam champion and former No. 1 beat Roberta Vinci 7-5, 6-3 in the opening round of the Porsche Grand Prix.
“It was the best feeling in the world,” Sharapova said about stepping on court again for a professional match. “I have been waiting for this a long time.”
Sharapova had earlier been given a lukewarm welcome by the 4,500 spectators, receiving a polite applause and some whistling when she entered the sold-out arena.
The Russian had not been afraid of the reception that awaited her, despite the fact that she entered the event on a much-debated wildcard.
“It’s not something you focus on because you spent so many months training and preparing and getting ready that you have to be in your mind when you’re walking out on court,” she said.
Sharapova was not looking back in anger at her suspension, saying: “I am not an individual that’s angry. I let things go pretty quickly. Sharapova added that she had ”a pretty normal life“and ”grew as a person“while being away from the circuit, until getting back to training in January.
“I was studying, I was working, I was working on my business, I formed friendships that I did never have the time for to form,” she said.
Wednesday’s match was the Russian’s first since losing to Serena Williams in the quarterfinals of the 2016 Australian Open, and her first match on clay in nearly two years.
Against the 36th-ranked Italian, Sharapova had a shaky start, conceding seven of the first eight points and dropping the opening two games within five minutes.
She finally took her fifth chance in the third game to break Vinci’s serve.
Apart from producing a string of unforced errors, Sharapova also showed flashes of her old self — with several outstanding returns and cross-court winners, mostly followed by her trademark fist pump.
When Vinci held serve to go 5-4 up, the Italian had already won more games than in her two previous matches, both two-set defeats, against Sharapova.
The Russian, however, broke again and converted her second set point with a forehand winner to take the opener.
Sharapova took control of the second set after an early break and held off three break points in her following service game.
She dropped only two points on serve in the rest of the match and closed out the win on Vinci’s serve to go 13-1 for the Stuttgart tournament after winning it three times on four appearences.
“It’s good for tennis that she has come back,” Vinci said after the match. “She played good, she played aggressive, very solid, good service. She deserved to win.”
Last year, Sharapova tested positive for the banned substance meldonium. She had her initial twoyear ban reduced to 15 months by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which ruled that the Russian bore “less than significant fault” in the case and that she could not “be considered to be an intentional doper.”