Maria Sharapova stepped onto Arthur Ashe Stadium donning a glittery black jacket over a little lacy black tennis dress, with a smattering of shining crystals. Brazen, by some means, but she was making a statement. A bigger statement, however: a first round victory — 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 — over World No. 2 Simona Halep at her first Grand Slam appearance in 581 days. Unstoppable… she had titled her recent autobiography. And she seemed the part.
Was that really Sharapova? The audience could scarcely believe it. But there it was. The familiar ear-assaulting shriek. The hard-hitting ground strokes. The grim expression from possibly the most mentally tough athlete in the game, even after winning a crucial point. It was 11 in the night when she won, but the crowd had just started cheering.
Monday’s match proved she is still one of the best players in the world. It also showed just how much the tennis world missed her. Sharapova in her fiercely competitive element was pure blockbuster gold; a record 23,771 attended the night session of the first round.
Asked what she’d learned about herself after the match, the Russian said, “Behind all these Swarovski crystals and little black dresses, this girl has a lot of grit and she’s not going anywhere.” However, for many within the tennis world, that she is here at all seems unfair: her return on a wild-card after a doping ban has been dubbed premature and undeserved.
Sharapova is a formidable opponent, but she is not well-liked by a considerable number of her fellow-players on the WTA tour. She has served her punishment, but the continued vilification of her as a cheat hasn’t stopped. Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard said, “She is a cheater, and so, to me, I don’t think a cheater in any sport should be allowed to play that sport again.” They met at the Madrid Open this year, and even if Bouchard won, the handshake at the net was awkward at best and frosty at worst. Bouchard went on to say that her opinion of Sharapova was widely shared by most players in the locker-room. When asked a question about Sharapova after her round-one loss at the US Open here, Bouchard responded with a deadpan face. “I think my comments are pretty public already.”
What constitutes punishment?
Calling her a cheat seems a tad unkind, especially when the Court of Arbitration for Sport emphasised in its decision reducing Sharapova’s ban that in no way can she be considered an ‘intentional doper.’
Following comments from many other players on tour, former tennis star Martina Navratilova urged them to stop focusing on Sharapova. “I think it is time for the players to lay off Maria. She made a huge mistake, paid dearly for it, ‘done the time’ and now let’s play ball,” she said.
But has she ‘done her time’? Is it correct to equate the end of Sharapova’s suspension as the end of her punishment? Should she be treated like how exactly she was — former World No. 1 and five-time Grand Slam champion? WTA CEO Steve Simon certainly thought so. He said Sharapova had paid the price for her negligence. “I don't think a suspension should wipe out the career’s worth of work.”
At the time of her return, she was ranked 262. In tennis terms, that is effectively being demoted to the level of an average country club hitter. Of course, it does not go to say she is the 262nd best player in the world. It is just the nature — or limitation, if you’d prefer — of the ranking system. Only tournaments played in the last 12 months can be added to a player’s account, which is why Sharapova was found rock-bottom. And the struggle to the top was always going to be arduous. When she was denied a wild-card entry to the French Open, French tennis federation chief Bernard Giudicelli didn’t mince his words. “So,” he said, “it is up to Maria, day after day, tournament after tournament, to find alone the strength she needs to win the big titles without owing anything to anyone.”
And that is what critics feel Sharapova should have done. Worked her way up the line and not be parachuted directly to the easy-access spot. Today, over three months since Sharapova re-debuted on tour, she ranks a mere 171st. World No. 3 Garbine Muguruza said when asked about the decision to give her a wildcard, “When someone has been, you know — I don’t know if it’s banned, the word, or, like, out of competition, you have to work for it a little bit, to go and play your tournaments. You’ve got to work hard and deserve it again. I think that’s the way.”
The US Open wild-card is the tenth that Sharapova has received ever since her return from the ban. A wild-card is a coveted prize and handing that prize is at the discretion of the tournament and each tournament has, predictably and understandably, its own vested interests. Top players were dropping like flies even before the US Open had begun, it needed someone like a ‘destroyer ship’; someone to help lift them off Dunkirk. Could the USTA be at fault for wanting to bring in more fans by leveraging Sharapova’s popularity and glamour? As American Madison Keys said the other day about the opening match: “I don’t think any tennis fan in the world is not going to have that match on.”
But was Sharapova unfairly privileged? Perhaps a better way was to hand it to a player who hadn’t served a doping ban and needed the ranking points that come with winning matches at premier events. Without that wild-card, players have to fight through exhausting qualifying-round matches. Or slog it out at other tournaments with smaller prize money. Something that Sharapova would not be too familiar with. Throughout her suspension, the entire team behind Sharapova stayed with her. Such was the money muscle in play that, prior to her return, her management went on a media blitzkrieg: many interviews, the release of her book and of course, Sugarpova. Sharapova is more a brand than a player and rakes in more money than anyone else on tour.
The debate surrounding her return will probably continue awhile. But soon, the questions about her doping and return will stop featuring at post-match conferences. If her first night this week was any indication, however, she will be a force to reckon with. The fans needed her, however flawed or faulty. And she needed tennis — “It’s prime time, baby! I love it.”
Timeline
April 19, 1987 : Born in Nyagan, Siberia, after her parents escape from Gomel, Belarus, to avoid the reprecussions of the Chernobyl disaster.
1991 : Introduced to tennis when a family friend - Yevgeny Kafelnikov's father - gives her an old raquet
1993 : Spotted by Martina Navaratolova at a tennis exbhibition in Moscow. Navaratilova suggests the idea of training at the Nick Bollettieri Academy
1994 : Moves to the USA with father Yuri, even though neither speaks English well enough to communicate
2001 : Turns professional
2004 : Becomes the third youngest woman to win the Wimbledon singles title in the Open Era
2006 : Begins taking Meldonium after being prescribed the blood-flow drug by a family approved doctor. The substance is not banned by the WADA at this time.
2012 : Completes a career slam after triumphing at Rolan Garros.
January 2015: WADA begins to monitor the use of Meldonium after evidence emerges that healthy athletes use it to improve cardiovascular endurance.
December 2015: WADA announces that Meldonium will be banned
January 2016: Sharapova provides a sample that is positive for Meldonium on the same day that she is knocked out of the Australian Open by Serena Williams
February 2016 : Withdraws from her scheduled appearance at Indian Wells with an injury, unaware of her positive drug test.
March 2016: Publicly reveals she fails a drug test. Nike and Tag Heuer suspend relationships, Porsche puts matters on hold, but Head stands by her.
April 2017 : Returns from a 15-month suspension at Stuttgart after being given a wild-card.
May 2017 : Rolan Garros decides against granting Sharapova a wild-card. An injury forces her to miss the grass season.
August 2017 : Returns to Grand Slam action at the US Open, the first major to offer her a wild-card.
