Maria Sharapova made her return count best at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix Wednesday night. The former number one brought everything she had to beat Italy’s
Roberta Vinci 7-5, 6-3 at Porsche Arena in Stuttgart. Sharapova ended 15 months of not being in competition to shake off the rust and win her first match of the 2017 season.
Sharapova made her way back to the WTA tour for the first time in 15 months after serving her suspension for a positive drug test. Though missing the first three months was a bear, the recently turned 30-year-old showed herself more than ready to compete. With help from the tournament director, the former number one gained a wild card spot in the main draw facing the Italian for a third time in their careers. The last meeting came in 2012 at Indian Wells where Sharapova easily took care of business. Despite being away for so long, she has kept up her training expecting to be in fine form like before.
Vinci hoped that she could find a weakness in her unranked opponent despite carrying a three-game losing streak. While she doesn’t agree with Sharapova receiving an easy pass into a WTA premier final, she’ll put that aside to get to business and try to start her clay court season on the right foot.
She did well on serve handing Sharapova very little room to maneuver. The Italian settled in and allowed the Russian a single point before capping her service with a victory in the first. The pressure built fast for the returning super star finding herself down 0-40 before getting on the board in time. She slowly made her way back saving another break point but it was put down by the Italian who opened the gap on Sharapova.
In a must need response, the Russian shook off the rust and attacked the serve of Vinci to set up a break point chance. They were all recovered by the Italian setting up deuce that clearly made it hard for Sharapova to lock down her first win. The tug of war saw big points from one to another that came down to very close ball landings in and outside of the baseline. Despite the pains of results, Sharapova made it count on her fifth break point landing one to Vinci’s left, recording her first game win of 2017.
She consolidated another with a tripe break push before holding Vinci to a point in the fourth to level the set. it was still a road of progression that the Italian did everything to slow down by any means. She led the way again in the fifth with a strong service hold that put the pressure back on Sharapova to play by the Italian’s pace or change it herself. The Russian answered with break that gave the indication of a neck and neck race at the halfway point of the set.
The two continued to play on serve with the score still dead even with one another with the end of the set approaching. The ninth was a difficult service hold for Vinci who saw Sharapova fight for the chance to get out ahead in the pivotal point that would give her the advantage. The veteran Italian didn’t want that to happen and dug in deep to play Sharapova to an end that eventually gave her the win after several breaks on deuce.
Sharapova was not going down without a fight and proved that with her consistency of winners against Vinci that soon assisted her in great amounts. She managed to hold serve against Vinci to force the set to its breaking point if necessary. The Italian was first to answer in extra frames but found herself in trouble with Sharapova banging at the door to take control. With an important break in play, Sharapova did all she could to secure her way to winning the 11th to dictate for the first and last time that the set would offer.
She served to Vinci in the 12th in what turned into a very tight battle for the Russian to complete. She reached set point first but watched it go straight to deuce after a four-shot rally. Despite the continued adversity, Sharapova kept her composure gaining the advantage before ending the set in her favor in just under an hour’s time. Sharapova was definitely in fine form having landed six aces and 24 winners against Vinci who despite going down a set, gave the Russian a lot of trouble in her return to the sport.
She fell to Sharapova to start the second losing her grip on serve in the first before fighting for a break of her own. The Russian didn’t want to go down but Vinci didn’t make that easy. She refused to go down without a fight in the second where more than several breaks elapsed before Sharapova won the game that lasted more than 10 minutes.
The Italian fought her way back but still trailed Sharapova who wanted nothing more than to finish her first round in straight sets. The efforts put in by the two moved through the next few games with Vinci right on the tail of the Russian who still dictated well on serve. She was ready to go up 5-3 with the chance for a perfect love service. Landing her 11th ace on the line, Sharapova got the win to pressure the Italian on serve to give in. She put her own game to push Vinci into submission where she let out screams of joy that was louder than her fans in the stands who were applauding her performance on the red clay.
Her long-awaited victory took 1 hour 43 minutes where her overall serve was at its point that she had before the suspension. “I’ve done this for so long,” Sharapova said during her on court interview. “Yes, you’re rust and you’re trying to get into the rhythm again and it’s my first match in a while but this is what I’ve done for so long and when you’re in the moment you try to block everything out and you compete.”
Making her return in her fourth appearance was a very big deal to her as she has found the courts to be her home away from home. “It’s been a stage of mine since I was a young girl and to know that I’d be walking back on it was really special and I’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time.”
“Every match I play is important to me no matter who I play,” she said about facing Ekaterina Makarova in the next round. “She’s a lefty and it’s important to play points to play games to play sets and that’s what I want so it’s a journey, and it starts today.”
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