NAMES & FACES

Maria Sharapova

The five-time Grand Slam winner will return from her 15month doping ban at a tournament in Germany in April. Car manufacturer Porsche, which sponsors both Sharapova and the event in Stuttgart, said Tuesday that Sharapova has been given a wild-card entry into the tournament. It will be her first official competition since she tested positive for meldonium at last year’s Australian Open. “I could not be happier to have my first match back on tour at one of my favorite tournaments,” said Sharapova, 29, who won the Stuttgart tournament from 2012 through ’14. “I can’t wait.”

Lionel Messi

Apparently vandals in Argentina thought enough of the country’s best player to leave his legs alone. A statue in Buenos Aires was reduced to the national team star’s lower half — and a soccer ball — after the head, torso and arms were removed. The statue was installed in late June, shortly after Argentina and Messi lost the final of the Copa America against Chile. The city says it will reconstruct the statue. The vandalism took place just hours after Cristiano Ronaldo was named FIFA’s best player of the season for the fourth time.