Maria Sharapova made a winning return to US tennis, downing American Jennifer Brady 6-1, 4-6, 6-0 to mark her first match win since May and advance to the Bank of the West Classic second round in Stanford.
It was a night to remember under the cotton-candy colored skies of Stanford, California for five-time Grand Slam champion Maria Sharapova as she made a successful return to competition in the US with an up and down 6-1, 4-6, 6-0 victory over Jennifer Brady. Sharapova, playing in her first match since a thigh injury forced her to retire to Mirjana Lucic-Baroni in Rome in May, looked rusty at times but ultimately the inconsistency of Brady, a college player at UCLA, gave the Russian former world number one a spot in the second round at the Bank of the West Classic in just over two hours on court.
In the opening set, it was Sharapova bossing play and fighting through some close games. breaking in the first game of the match on her fourth time of asking before saving a break point the following game to go up an early 2-0 lead. The wildcard entrant, currently ranked 171 as she comes back from a 15-month doping suspension, secured a double break the next game, only to give it straight back for 3-1. The five-time major winner fought back strongly though, snatching the two-break advantage right back to go up 4-1 before consolidating that lead to force Brady to serve to stay in the opening set. The world number 80 continued to falter on serve as Sharapova’s aggressive returns paid dividends, as the 30-year-old broke again and took the opening set 6-1 under the beautiful evening sky of the Bay Area.
The second set was a far different affair for both players as Sharapova’s wobbles on serve, unpunished in the first set, went noticed here in the second as Brady went out a double break immediately to go up 3-0. A surge by the Russian-born Los Angeles resident helped her gain back both breaks of serve but that was short lived as the 80th-ranked American went back on the attack, breaking Sharapova again to go up 4-3. That break advantage was all she needed as she rode that lead to the finish line in the set, taking it 6-4 and forcing a third in front of a record Monday night crowd in Stanford.
After a disastrous second set, Sharapova was ruthless in the third as she fended off early break points in the first and third games and broke on her first time of asking on Brady’s serve to go up 3-0. The five-time Grand Slam winner would not look back, not facing another break point from there on, ending the American’s resistance for 4-0 and a double break before claiming a much-needed hold to love to force the UCLA player to serve to stay in the match. Sharapova kept dialing up the pressure on her return as the former world number one and wildcard entrant broke Brady for a ninth time to secure a first match win in the US in over two and a half years and book her spot in the second round here in Stanford 6-1. 4-6, 6-1 off a powerful backhand down-the-line winner to seal the match.
Following the match in the on-court interview, Sharapova was ecstatic about her welcome return to US tennis and thanking her home state California fans for making her feel so welcome in the Bay Area.
“I just want to hug everyone.Thank you for being here. It’s my 1st match in the US in a long time. It’s the closest thing to home for me.”
Asked to describe Brady’s comeback in the second set as emcee Andrew Krasny put it, Sharapova would think of it a little differently.
“Those are really nice words about the 2nd. I’d have put it a bit differently,” said a humorous and relaxed Sharapova. “I had a bit of a letdown but that’s the way it is; you finish a set and think you’ve got it, but she came out firing, capable of hitting winners and big serves. I had to look out for that,” commented the former world number one.
Discussing her comeback from the 15-month doping suspension and more recently a thigh injury that forced her out of Rome and the entire grass court season, the five-time major champion said, “I feel like I face a lot of things: not competing for a long time, an opponent who’s able to play some great tennis – what a year she’s had already!”
“I feel like I’m playing catch-up against everyone who’s had a head start. All that matters is that I keep playing. As long as I’m the one winning the last point, I get to play another match, and another. The more I play, the better I’ll do. That’s the goal,” said a very honest Sharapova.
The Russian wildcard will continue her comeback to tennis on either Wednesday or Thursday in the second round against Ukrainian Lesia Tsurenko.
