Given the recent rumors, it’s great to hear that Maria Sharapova will soon be returning to competitive tennis after a long injury layoff. Here’s the latest from Russia Today (dated April 15):
Russia’s tennis star Maria Sharapova plans to return to the court in May at the Roland Garros tournament, says Russia’s tennis team coach Shamil Tarpishchev, Sport-Express newspaper website reports.
“I have spoken with Maria Sharapova’s father the day before yesterday. He said she is preparing to play at Roland Garros. Prior to that she’ll probably play in two tournaments to get in form. It’s not clear which tournaments that would be now. But it is clear Sharapova intends to play on clay. Let’s hope that it’s the way it’ll be,” Shamil Tarpishchev said.
Sharapova will likely make her singles debut at the Italian Open in Rome at the beginning of May.
Hope to see you soon, Maria!
Maria Sharapova at ’08 Roland Garros – photo by: PIERRE VERDY/AFP/Getty Images via USA Today
Tags: French Open, Roland Garros, Sharapova, WTA
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Thank God for that…
Let’s hope its not another false dawn…though she did say she was ‘done setting timetables’ so that is slightly more promising…
Okay, this is what I wanted to hear-and I have almost no doubts she will be there, even with all the iffy return/no return news.
This is good news, and I hope her physical problems haven’t morphed into mental problems. The game needs the steely, messy Shriekapova back in the worst way. Go Maria!
Thank goodness. Please let her return soon to tennis court!!!
Now here’s a comeback I’m excited for! This is who the tour really needs!
However…
I can’t think of a worse part of the season to get back out there. While she doesn’t necessarily worry about having to serve big on the dirt, she’s going to have to hit a ton more balls. A shoulder injury just doesn’t affect the serve; I’m assuming she feels a catch on any shot except for volleys.
If she came back during the grass-court season, she could let the grass do some of the work for her with it beefing up her serve and her groundies.
When I think of her shoulder injury, I think of Patrick Rafter. It gets overlooked, but he was actually a pretty good clay-court player at the height of his career. After his shoulder injury, he barely played on it and went on to make two Wimbledon finals his last two years on tour. I don’t think there’d be anything wrong with her going that route for a couple of years; she’s still pretty young.
Anyway, Less balls hit equals a longer shelf life: At least that’s how I see it. And sorry for the long comment!
Hey Van!
I think you raise a very good point. Besides just hitting more balls, the weight of the ball on clay and the movement are also pretty grueling.
It’s too bad the grass court season is so short. Perhaps if there were more chances on grass, Maria would hold off.
I wonder if Sharapova is looking for a career slam, though? She has a better chance than Rafter ever would have had – there are very few clay court specialists on the WTA tour who could consistently beat her. . .Of course I’m sure she’s not thinking she’s winning it this year. Oh well, I guess we’ll have watch and see how it goes.