No glorious finale in sight for Maria

MARIA SHARAPOVA insists she has plenty of options ahead of her following a fourth-round defeat at the US Open. She did so when asked if her unspectacular comeback from a doping suspension makes this the most challenging period of her playing career. ‘What’s challenging is when you’re a teenager and you have a few hundred dollars and you don’t know where you’re going to end up,’ she said. ‘That’s a lot tougher than being 31 years old and having the opportunity to do whatever I want in my life.’ Her stated intention upon returning was to be able to finish her career on her own terms. A triumphant ending is looking a more remote prospect after a 6-4 6-3 loss to Spanish baseliner Carla Suarez Navarro. US Open schedulers helped the Russian by giving her four successive night matches. Even that was not enough, as she saw her unbeaten record under the lights at Flushing Meadows disappear. Sharapova (left) can choose how much longer she wants to go on in this postmeldonium phase of her career, but there are precious few signs of her regaining the prowess that once made her such a force. Since her controversial reappearance a year last April in Stuttgart she has played 19 tournaments, accumulating a 37-17 match record. One low-key title in China has been won, and in her five Grand Slam appearances one quarter-final is her best result. Defending champion Sloane Stephens was last night beaten 6-2 6-3 by Latvia’s Anastasija Sevastova, as more extreme heat caused play in all junior matches to be suspended.