Maria Sharapova Finally to Return
Russian Former World Number One Coming Back From Shoulder Injury
May 14, 2009
The Russian tennis starlet has finally fully recovered from her shoulder injury and will give herself one tournament of preparations for the French Open by playing in the Warsaw Open from May 18-24 in the Polish capital.
Three Grand Slam Titles, Former World Number One
Sharapova, who turned 22 on April 19, has collected three Grand Slam titles, winning Wimbledon in 2004, the U.S. Open in 2006 and the 2008 Australian Open. She was ranked No. 1 in August 2005 and has spent 17 non-consecutive weeks as the world's No. 1 player, most recently during the 2008 French Open. She finished the 2006 season ranked No. 2. In 2008, she concluded the season ranked No. 9. Her ranking dropped to No.65 as of this week due to her inactivity.
Shoulder Injury In August
A big reason for that low ranking was a right shoulder injury which had been hampering her for two years before finally causing her to take a break starting in August 2008. Her last single's match was at the Rogers Cup in Montreal last August.
Grand Slam Withdrawals
Sharapova played her first match in Montreal but then withdrew before the next match and then all subsequent events including the 2008 U.S. Open and the 2009 Australian Open.
Doubles Match In Indian Wells
Shapapova did not come back to tennis until mid-March 2009, teaming up with fellow Russian Elena Vesnina to beat Ekaterina Makarova and Tatiana Poutchek 6-2, 4-6, 10-7 in doubles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.
"It feels very good to be back, I just wanted to test it out. I started training a couple of months ago. I just wanted to... test it out in a match situation and get a little different scenery than the practice court and play in front of the crowd, so that was exciting," Sharapova told a press conference after the match.
First Single's Action In Nine Month Up-Coming
Sharapova announced on May 11, 2009 on her website that she would be returning for the Warsaw Open in Warsaw, Poland starting on May 18 - a break of nearly nine months. In her post, she talked about the difficulty of not playing but also about the great support she received from loved ones and fans.
"Although it has not been an easy process these last few months, I really believe it's made me a much stronger person in so many areas of my life professionally and personally. There are so many things you learn while you are limited to something you love doing. One of those things is patience, not my best virtue, but certainly one of my better ones now. Self belief...it's important to have a great team and family helping and encouraging you, but unless you are the one believing, it will not happen."
Thank You To The Fans
She continued by thanking her fans: "I want to thank all my die hard fans who never stopped believing in me....your letters and messages have been truly inspirational and something that I always looked back to when I had the low moments. I know it is going to take me a while to get back into the groove of playing tournaments and matches, but I am so excited to be competing again."
