Sharapova’s emotional return
WHEN Maria Sharapova’s first Grand Slam match after a 15-month doping suspension ended with a victory at the US Open, she dropped to her knees and covered her face, tears welling in her eyes.
This was merely a win to get to the second round, yes, but it also clearly meant so much more to Sharapova. It meant she was back.
Displaying as much emotion on court as she ever did after one of her five major championships, Sharapova recovered after faltering midway through the match and emerged to beat No 2seeded Simona Halep 6-4 4-6 6-3 at the US Open last night.
“Behind all these Swarovski crystals and little black dresses,” Sharapova told the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd, “this girl has a lot of grit, and she’s not going anywhere.”
So much about Sharapova was the same as it ever was: the shot-punctuating shrieks, the aggressive baseline style, the terrific returning, the sometimes-shaky serving.
Another familiar sight: she gutted out a win.
“It’s been a while,” said Sharapova, who missed additional time after her ban because of injuries. “It almost seemed like I had no right to win this match today. And I somehow did. I think that is what I’m most proud of.”
After leading by a set and 4-1 in the second, Sharapova showed some fatigue and rust, dropping five games in a row. But in the third, she regained control by going ahead 3-0, using her power to keep two-time French Open runner-up Halep under pressure.
Sharapova had not played at a Grand Slam tournament since January last year, when she tested positive for the newly- banned heart drug meldonium during the Australian Open.
The 30-year-old Russian was allowed back on the tour this April, but she was denied a wildcard invitation for the French Open the next month.
The US Tennis Association did grant a wild card to Sharapova, who was once ranked No 1 but is currently 146th.
It was as if every one of Sharapova’s winners yesterday – and she compiled 60, a startling 45 more than Halep – was her way of declaring: “Look out, everybody.”
Halep was among eight women who entered the US Open with a chance to top the WTA rankings by tournament’s end. The draw at Flushing Meadows randomly paired the two players, providing a buzz-generating match-up that managed to live up to the hype on Day 1 at the year’s last Grand Slam tournament.
“I gave everything I had,” Halep said. “She was better.”
And at an event that began without Serena Williams, who is expecting a baby, and is already missing two of its top seven seeded women – No 7 Johanna Konta, a Wimbledon semi-finalist just last month, was upset by 78th-ranked Aleksandra Krunic of Serbia 4-6 6-3 6-4 – Sharapova must be considered a serious title contender. She did, after all, win the US Open in 2006.
Sharapova v Halep was a tremendously entertaining and high-quality contest, more befitting a final than a first-rounder.
These two women have, indeed, faced off with a Grand Slam title at stake: Sharapova beat Halep in the 2014 French Open final, part of what is now her 7-0 head-to-head record in the match-up.
Yesterday, they traded stinging shots, often with Sharapova – dressed in all black – aiming to end exchanges and Halep hustling into place to extend them.
“I expected her to hit everything,” Halep said. “Some balls were really good. I couldn’t even touch them.”
Points would last 10 or 12 strokes, or more, repeatedly leaving a sell-out crowd of 23 771 in Arthur Ashe Stadium clapping and yelling, no matter which player won them. The chair umpire repeatedly admonished spectators to hush.
Halep blinked at the end of the first set, double-faulting to face a break point, then watching Sharapova punish a second serve with a forehand return winner. That was Sharapova’s sixth return winner; she would finish with 14, more than enough to counter her seven double-faults.
Halep lamented that her serve was “very bad”.
“I didn’t have the timing, the feeling. I don’t know why.”
It was quickly 4- 1 for Sharapova in the second set and she held a break point there to allow her to go up 5-1 and serve for the victory. But she couldn’t convert it.
Then, only then, did Sharapova struggle for a bit. Her footwork was off. Her forehand lost its way. She would end up losing that game and the next four, too.
But with the outcome in the balance, Sharapova once again looked as if she had never been away, improving to 11-0 in firstround matches in New York.
She was asked during her on-court interview what the low point was while forced off the tour. “There were definitely a few. But I don’t think this is the time to talk about that.” – ANA-AP