SHARAPOVA GETS ADORING USA WELCOME
...just don’t mention the doping ban!
MAriA Sharapova enjoys cutting business deals, and looks set to keep her half of the bargain at the uS Open. After her sensational defeat of second seed Simona Halep on Monday, the draw has parted invitingly for her, and in the second round she has the much easier looking proposition of facing Hungary’s world no 59, Timea babos.
it seems to be working out well for both the 30-year- old russian and the united States Tennis Association. The guardians of the sport in America chose to overlook the fact that Sharapova is returning from a 15-month doping suspension in giving her a wildcard straight into the main draw. She could have been made to play the qualifying event, in line with her ranking of 146.
in return the uSTA want drama, headlines and TV ratings for their flagship event, which is badly shorn of superstars. Sharapova certainly provided those when she overcame Halep 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 with a brutal and brilliant display of power tennis that breached the scurrying romanian’s formidable defences.
The Sharapova train is rolling again, and host broadcasters Espn are evidently among those eagerly clambering on board. Continually skimming over the underlying reasons for her prolonged absence from the sport — being caught using meldonium after it was outlawed — any casual viewer might have thought she was merely coming back from an injury.
but then the 24,000 crowd in the Arthur Ashe Stadium, admittedly among the least sophisticated in tennis, also responded favourably.
After she had won, Sharapova fell to the ground as if she had won the title, before telling her grovelling on- court inquisitor what the performance meant: ‘behind all these Swarovski crystals and little black dresses, this girl has a lot of grit and she’s not going anywhere.’
Aside from the clumsy commercial plug there could be little disputing that, and the sparkling outfit was the least of the reminders that she still possesses enormous star quality. it had been an astonishingly accomplished performance from someone who had completed only one tour match since mid-May due to recent leg and forearm injuries.
The top two seeds left in her quarter of the draw, now Jo Konta has been removed, are no 16 Anastasija Sevastova and the combative no 11 Dominika Cibulkova.
if there is a threat it may be in how her body holds up from repeat matches, especially without her former medication. She will be helped by the grand Slam format of a rest day between matches, a sometimes overlooked factor in Serena Williams performing so well in the majors into her mid-thirties.
The only shame is that Williams is not here to test herself against the resurgent Sharapova that showed up on Monday night.