All eyes were on Maria Sharapova on day one of the US Open at Flushing Meadows in New York, and the former world No 1 didn’t disappoint.
Stepping out onto the court for her first Grand Slam appearance in 19 months, the 30-year-old former world No 1 was making her big stage appearance following a 15-month doping suspension.
And what a statement she made, knocking out world No 2 Simona Halep in three sets, winning 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 in front of a sell-out night session crowd of almost 24,000 people. It was a match befitting the latter stages of the competition, rather than day one after the 2006 champion needed a wildcard to enter the main draw as she is ranked 146th.
Over the course of two hours and 44 minutes, Sharapova’s greater pace off the racquet outstripped Halep’s speed of foot, with 60 winners proving decisive despite 64 errors.
‘You never know what you’re going to feel until you win that match point, but everything you go through is worth it for this moment,’ said Sharapova, who now has a 7-0 record against Romania’s Halep. ’You sometimes wonder why you put in all the work, and this is exactly why.’
Entering Monday, eight women had a chance to leave the tournament with the No 1 ranking. Halep sat tantalisingly close, just five points behind No 1 Karolina Pliskova, and then lost to Sharapova.
The seventh-seeded Johanna Konta also had a chance at the No 1 ranking, but that possibility evaporated quickly with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 defeat to Aleksandra Krunic in the first round.
In the men’s section, there is carnage even before things really start to get going.
No 13 seed Jack Sock was the highest-ranked man to crash out of the Open, falling to Jordan Thompson, 6-2, 7-6 (14-12), 1-6, 5-7, 6-4, but some big guns were already out of contention before a ball was hit.
Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic, Stan Wawrinka and Kei Nishikori are four big names who withdrew due to injury, which suggests that the old guard of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal will be fancying their prospects of lasting deep into the second week.
A hip injury that has bothered Murray since before Wimbledon saw him withdraw, while Djokovic’s season is over because of an elbow injury he attributes to ‘excessive playing’. Wawrinka will miss the rest of the year following surgery on his knee and Nishikori won’t be seen before January, either, as he has torn a tendon in his right wrist.
South Africa’s Kevin Anderson reached the second round, where he will meet Latvia’s Ernests Gulbis. Anderson overcame America’s JC Aragone 6-3, 6-3, 6-1 in the first round.
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