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 2-seeded Simona Halep 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 at the US Open over more than 2½ hours Monday 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, Sharapova 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 2016, 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 wild-card 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 Monday — 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 matchup 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 semifinalist 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.
But Sharapova wasn't interested in looking too far ahead just yet. "This is a big win for me, and I will enjoy it," she said, "then move on to the next one."
The last match on Monday's schedule actually finished at 2:04 a.m. on Tuesday: After Sharapova won, the fourth-seeded man, Alexander Zverev, needed to get through an 80-minute first set before eventually beating 168th-ranked qualifier Darian King 7-6 (9), 7-5, 6-4. King is the first player from Barbados to participate in a main-draw match at a major.
Sharapova vs 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 matchup.
Venus advances
Venus Williams shook off a mid-match lapse to improve to 19-0 in the U.S. Open's first round and stay in the hunt for the No 1 ranking.
The No 9-seeded Williams, at 37 the oldest woman in the field, picked up a 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 victory over Viktoria Kuzmova, a 19-year-old qualifier from Slovakia who is ranked 135th.
Williams entered the US Open as one of eight women with a chance to rise atop the WTA rankings by tournament's end.
It was the first tour-level main draw match of Kuzmova's career, the 967th for Williams. Williams was up a set, plus a break in the second at 2-0, when she faltered. Kuzmova broke for 2-1, then pulled at even at 3-all before taking three games in a row to force a third set.
But Williams righted herself there, breaking for a 2-0 lead, then digging out of a love-40 hole for 3-0.
Pliskova goes through
No 1 seed Karolina Pliskova has won her first-round match. Pliskova beat Magda linette of Poland 6-2, 6-1, slowed only when the players had to break so the retractable roof at Arthur Ashe Stadium could be closed.
The roof closed between sets with light rain falling. Pliskova then quickly finished off the match once play resumed.