Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Sharapova’s run ends to Sevastova
NEW YORK — Maybe this was just one three-setter too many for Maria Sharapova.
Sharapova tried a bit of everything, even resorting to switching over her racket to hit a few lefty shots. Still, the five-time major champion could not quite keep her Grand Slam comeback from a doping suspension going, losing in the fourth round of the U.S. Open to 16th-seeded Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia 5-7, 6-4, 6-2 on Sunday.
“Look, three-set matches are challenging,” Sharapova said. “I love being part of them. There’s an element of concentration, focus, physicality that goes into all of it. And you have to put it all together. Yeah, you just have to get through it.
“There’s no doubt that not playing those matches certainly cost me today. I did feel like I was thinking a little bit too much and not playing by instinct.”
It was the third time in her four matches that Sharapova went the distance, but she faded down the stretch, while also dealing with a blister on her right hand that
was treated and taped by a trainer in the final set. Sharapova’s miscues kept closing exchanges, and she dropped 13 of the first 14 points in that set.
Sharapova, 30, finished with 51 unforced errors, compared to 14 for Sevastova.
“It’s been a really great ride,” Sharapova said.
“Ultimately, I can take a lot from this week,” she continued. “It’s great to get that major out of the way. It was an incredible opportunity. I’m very thankful for the opportunity.”
Sharapova’s exit leaves Venus Williams as the only past U.S. Open champion in the women’s field. Williams, who won the title in 2000 and
2001, got to the quarterfinals by beating Carla Suarez Navarro 6-3, 3-6, 6-1.
Williams reached the U.S. Open quarterfinals for the second time in three years. The 37-year-old American is the oldest woman in the bracket. She owns seven Grand Slam titles, including two in New York in 2000 and 2001.
The No. 9-seeded Williams is trying to get to her third Grand Slam final of the season. She lost to her younger sister Serena Williams at the Australian Open and to Garbine Muguruza at Wimbledon.
Sharapova hadn’t played in a major tournament since the Australian Open in January 2016, when she tested positive for the newly banned drug meldonium. She served a 15-month ban for that, returning to the tour this April with a ranking too
low to get into Grand Slam events.
The French Open denied her a wild-card invitation, then she planned to try to qualify for Wimbledon before pulling out because of an injured left leg.
But she was able to enter the U.S. Open thanks to a wild card from the U.S. Tennis Association, which then proceeded to put its 2006 champion in Arthur Ashe Stadium every time she played over the past week, drawing strong support from spectators — and criticism from another former No. 1-ranked woman, Caroline Wozniacki.
On the first day of the tournament, Sharapova won a three-set thriller under the lights against No. 2 seed Simona Halep.
“Just competing, you know, being in that competitive environment — that’s what I missed,” Sharapova
said. “You can’t replicate that anywhere, especially at a Grand Slam. So … Monday night was a special night for me. I will always remember it.”
This time, Sevastova made Sharapova run a lot by pulling her forward with drop shots or tight angles, then would often deposit follow-up strokes into open spaces. On one point won by Sharapova in the second set, she twice tracked down lobs that she got back over the net by hitting the ball left-handed.
But she could not sustain enough strong play, and Sevastova reached the U.S. Open quarterfinals for the second consecutive year.
“I allowed the match to become physical,” Sharapova said about the late-going. “I don’t think I played as aggressive or was stepping in as much as I did in the first set.”