AV VE MARIA!
SHA ARAPOVA STUNS HALEP OPEN RETURN
Maria Sharapova’s biggame comeback from a 15month drug suspension ended on her knees in tears … of joy. Sure, it was just a firstround match and not a final, but to know how much her suspension hurt — and grasp how much her comeback meant — one just had to watch the always-composed Sharapova cover her face as she wept openly and repeatedly, overcome with emotion she’s never shown. Truthfully, she’s never had a reason like this. It wasn’t just the 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 upset of second-ranked Simona Halep, stirring enough on its own. No, it was everything she had gone through to get here, from the PED suspension to being cast as a cheater to the multiple injuries that stalled this comeback. “[I learned] behind all these Swarovski crystals and sparkly little black dresses, this girl has a lot of grit and is not going anywhere,” Sharapova said. But don’t think that was a sign she was embracing the role of drug-stained villain. No, she soaked in the applause of the sellout crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium — where she’s 18-0 all time under the lights — and cried with every cheer.
“[It meant] so much. So special. … This is obviously a different scale, completely different caliber to anywhere you play in the world. It’s electric,” Sharapova said. “As much as I want to be in the zone, focus in on what I have to do, execution and all those things, I definitely felt the energy. I felt the crowd.”
Sharapova has made a career out of not just power but being mentally stronger than her foes. That fortitude was put to the test after failing a Jan. 26, 2016, drug test at the Australian Open, 2016, testing positive for meldonium. She had taken the drug for a decade on a doctor’s advice, saying she hadn’t known it had been added to the banned list that Jan. 1.
Sharapova got suspended for two years — reduced to 15 months — then had her comeback twice stalled, first by a thigh injury then a left forearm injury earlier this month. She arrived in Flush- ing with just a single match under her belt since May and ranked 147th. But in her first major since 2016, she showed the same toughness she always has had, along with some newfound agility.
After winning the first set, Sharapova hit a nasty shot down line to go up 4-1 in the second and had break point. But the defensive-minded Halep, who has been known to wilt and had lost all six of their prior meetings, reeled off four straight games.
Sharapova double-faulted on break point to give Halep a 5-4 lead and dropped the set. But after taking a 10minute break between sets, she composed herself and won the third to earn a date versus Timea Babos of Hungary. She got emotional and gave a huge hug to agent Max Eisenbud, also in tears.
“My team and I have been through a lot,’’ Sharapova said. “To be in that moment, to be competing there, to see them with me — tennis is a very individual sport; you feel like it’s just you most of the time out there — since I’ve come back, I feel like I’m on a team.”