Alexander Zverev made to work hard for win over Darian King in late match
Tuesday 29 August 2017 16:54, UK
Maria Sharapova made a stunning return to Grand Slam tennis with a three-set victory over world No 2 Simona Halep at the US Open.
The Russian was handed a wild card into the event and, making her first return to the majors since a 15-month doping suspension, responded in front of a sell-out crowd with a 6-4 4-6 6-3 victory over her Romanian opponent.
Sharapova will now play Timea Babos in the second round, after a near three-hour display that again demonstrated all the tenacity that has characterised her career to date, and which kept the 24,000 crowd in attendance on Arthur Ashe Stadium enthralled.
Predictably Sharapova, the champion at Flushing Meadows in 2006, mixed a huge number of winners with even more unforced errors but it was enough for the 30-year-old to seal a memorable victory on her return to the big stage.
"You try and think it's another day, another opportunity but it was so much more," Sharapova said after her first Grand Slam match since the Australian Open quarter-final against Serena Williams in 2016.
"You never know how you are going to feel until match point but you figure it's all worth it. When I first came to New York, I was intimidated by the noise, the traffic, the people. But now I love it.
"Sometimes you wonder why you put in all the hard work - this is exactly why."
Halep had entered the tournament with high hopes of a maiden major triumph, even though Friday's draw had dealt her a seventh career meeting with Sharapova, who had won all six previous contests between the pair.
The Romanian, one of eight women who began the fortnight with a chance to end it as the world No 1, fought back from 4-1 down to take the second set, Sharapova having got the start she would have wanted by claiming the opener.
Mental toughness has always been a staple of Sharapova's game and after an extended bathroom break, she stormed into another 4-1 lead in the decider, and was able to hold on to seal an epic victory in 2hrs 44mins.
Sharapova's return to the sport has been mixed, having seen injuries hamper her time back on the court. With her ranking down to 146, she has been reliant on invites and wild cards since coming back in April following more than a year on the sidelines.
But she responded with a determined display in a thrilling encounter.
"From the second I found out I was playing Simona, I was actually getting my nails done, I got my phone out and I pulled up YouTube videos of our matches," Sharapova added.
"The fact that I was able to come out and play that way, beat the No 2 player in the world in the first round of the US Open, it's been a while, I think those are definitely the emotions that I was feeling."
In the late match, fourth seed Alexander Zverev was made to work hard for a 7-6 (11-9) 7-5 6-4 victory over world No 168 Darian King.
The much-fancied 20-year-old German - winner of two Masters titles this season - took almost three hours to see off the Barbadian qualifier.
After overcoming an early break and taking the first set on a mammoth tie-break, Zverev went on to seal his straight-sets success at around 2am local time.
Next up the world No 6 will face Borna Coric, another of the ATP Tour's highly rated young prospects, who advanced with a 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (7-2) 6-2 triumph over Czech Jiri Vesely.
Sky Sports Tennis will have all the action from the US Open covered via our website sky.mnosports.com/tennis with our live blogs and updates throughout the fortnight as the Grand Slam year reaches its climax.
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We will also have coverage of the World Tour Finals in November with every match live on Sky Sports.
