Russian star Maria Sharapova’s first Grand Slam match in more than 1½ years will come against No. 2-seeded Simona Halep at the US Open
new york — Maria Sharapova’s first Grand Slam match in more than 1½ years will come against No. 2-seeded Simona Halep at the US Open.
Sharapova’s first-round matchup with two-time French Open runnerup Halep was set up by Friday’s draw, which also put Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal on the same side of the men’s bracket, meaning they could meet only in the semifinals.
The US Tennis Association awarded a wild-card invitation to Sharapova, who is ranked only 147th after returning from a 15-month doping suspension in April, so she could have been randomly placed to face any other player. Sharapova was kicked off the tour after testing positive for the newly banned drug meldonium at the 2016 Australian Open. Her five major championships include the 2006 US Open. The year’s last Grand Slam tournament starts Monday. Nadal is seeded No. 1 at Flushing Meadows for the first time since 2010 after returning to the ATP’s top ranking this week. Federer is seeded No. 3. They have played 37 head-to-head matches, including 12 at major tournaments—at least twice in a final — but never at Flushing Meadows in any round. Federer beat Nadal in the Australian Open final in January. Nadal then won his 10th French Open trophy in June, and Federer won his eighth Wimbledon title in July.
The bottom half ’s semifinal could be No. 2 Andy Murray vs. No. 4 Alexander Zverev. The potential men’s quarterfinals could be Nadal against No. 7 Grigor Dimitrov, Federer against No. 6 Dominic Thiem, Murray against No. 8 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, and Zverev against No. 5 Marin Cilic, the 2014 US Open champion.
Possible women’s quarterfinal matchups on the draw’s bottom half include Halep or Sharapova against No. 7 Johanna Konta of Britain, a semifinalist at Wimbledon; and Wimbledon champion Garbine Muguruza against No. 5 Caroline Wozniacki or No. 9 Venus Williams, a seven-time major champion. —