Tennis
Peter Bodo, ESPN.com Staff Writer 7y

It's true: Maria Sharapova could be better than ever

Tennis

Maria Sharapova's closely watched return to the WTA Tour after a 15-month doping suspension is only three matches old, but she has already managed to alter the most germane question accompanying her comeback.

It's no longer, "Will she ever be the same again?"

Rather, "Is she better than ever?"

That's the tantalizing possibility left in the wake of Friday's quarterfinals at the WTA event in Stuttgart. Once again, Sharapova's game was airtight and her serve more lethal and reliable than ever at critical moments as she blasted qualifier Anett Kontaveit 6-3, 6-4.

Now 30 years old and unranked because of her exile, Sharapova was thrown a curveball in the form of Kontaveit, a 21-year-old Estonian who had modeled much of her game on that of her Russian opponent.

A former prodigy and Orange Bowl junior champion at age 15, Kontaveit is a solidly built, 5-foot-9 power player whose development was slowed by a case of infectious mononucleosis that was first diagnosed in the summer of 2014. She rebounded slowly but has been coming on strong recently with a game built on the foundation of a strong serve and penetrating, punishing groundstrokes.

Sound familiar? Sharapova has made her way through the world the same way.

Sharapova would have had good reason to feel jittery before this match, even if she'd spent the past 15 months slogging way on the tour. Kontaveit's current, career-best ranking of No. 73 isn't an accurate reflection of her skills. Also, this was the first meeting between them, and history has shown that aspiring youngsters have no qualms whatsoever about wrecking role models and icons.

"The first six games, we were trying to figure each other out," Sharapova said in her on-court interview after the 1-hour, 23-minute win. "But when I got the opportunity, I just rolled with it."

The level Sharapova hit in the late stages of the first set and through most of the second was technically the most impressive. But the main reason she controlled and won this match without much fuss was the poise and confidence she displayed in those early games.

There was no hesitation, no indecision. That's the thing many pundits and fans failed to realize about Sharapova's game when they tried to predict how long it would take her to recover her A-game.

Sharapova knows but one way to play. She's a player whose strategy has been to step in and hit the ball. If it happens to come back, she steps right in again to hit it even harder.

Sure, that's a simplification. Other elements having to do with the X's and O's come into play. Sharapova has to pay attention to footwork. There's fitness. She still hasn't quite tamed that powerful, wild serve. But don't imagine that Sharapova's practice sessions are filled with long rallies featuring her use of adjusted grips, multiple spins and clever pace-changing groundstrokes.

Sharapova plays first-strike, end-the-point tennis. Her matches aren't duets; they're personal demonstrations of her prowess. Players who need to work their way back into their top form rely on opponents to take them there. They need to master that ebb and flow of points, to find a rhythm and get in a comfort zone.

Not Sharapova. She just needs herself. She doesn't need matches. Her game requires only confidence and desire, which are proving to be ever-abiding. As she said of her "intensity" on Friday: "It's just part of being a tennis player. You have to have it not just for the first point, but for the last."

Sharapova is as good as ever. In the coming weeks, we'll see if she's even better.

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