Maria raring for Grand Slam

Former world number one Maria Sharapova makes her first Grand Slam appearance next week since serving a 15-month doping suspension, bringing renewed passion and resolve to the US Open.“When it comes to tennis, good or bad there's really only one thing that I know for certain I've missed it,” Sharapova wrote on the Players' Tribune website.“Though these last two years have been much tougher than I ever could have anticipated, my passion for the game has never wavered. If anything, it has only grown stronger.”Sharapova was issued a two-year suspension after testing positive for the banned heart and blood boosting drug meldonium at the 2016 Australian Open, but the Court of Arbitration for Sport reduced the ban on appeal.She said that she had taken it for several years and did not know it had been placed on the banned list at the start of 2016.Sharapova made her return in April at Stuttgart, reaching the semi-finals as a wildcard, but such invitations sparked criticism from some WTA rivals, saying she should have to work her way back without such benefits, some suggesting a life ban.“I'm aware of what many of my peers have said about me and how critical of me some of them have been,” she wrote.“If you're a human being with a normal, beating heart… I don't think that sort of thing will ever fully be possible to ignore.”Sharapova was refused a wildcard by French Open organisers and missed Wimbledon with a thigh injury, so the US Open will be her first Grand Slam event since last year's Australian Open.Shaking off criticism after the French Open snub, Sharapova tweeted, “If this is what it takes to rise up again, then I am in it all the way, every day. No words, games or actions will ever stop me from reaching my own dreams. And I have many.”Sharapova has missed three of the past four US Opens, her last visit ending in the 2014 fourth round.The USTA defended its wildcard offer, saying, “Her suspension under the terms of the tennis anti-doping programme was completed and therefore was not one of the factors weighed in our wildcard selection process.”“Consistent with past practice, a wildcard was provided to a past US champion who needed the wildcard for entry into the main draw.”Former world number one Sharapova won the 2006 US Open as well as Wimbledon in 2004, the 2008 Australian Open and the 2012 and 2014 French Opens.NAMPA/AFP

Maria raring for Grand Slam

Comments

Namibian Sun 2026-01-12

Please login to leave a comment

Maria raring for Grand Slam

Comments

Namibian Sun 2026-01-12

Please login to leave a comment

Subscription Required to Access Content ×

Login

Subscription Required to Access Content