ISTANBUL:Maria Sharapova will crown one of tennis’s most unlikely comebacks if she regains the title at the $5,000,000 WTA Championships which start on Tuesday.
Sharapova has gradually worked her way back to world number two after an operation in 2008 on a rotator cuff, the kind of shoulder injury from which most players never fully recover.
Arguably the former Wimbledon, US Open, and Australian Open champion still isn’t quite the player she was, but has nevertheless achieved her highest ranking in three years and qualified for the tour’s climax for the first time since 2007.
There is even an outside chance of Sharapova regaining the world number one ranking, but she would have to win the WTA Championships title whilst Caroline Wozniacki did poorly.
“I just feel a sense of evolvement,” said Sharapova.
“You know, this year I feel like I’ve grown as a player and I’ve gotten better. It gives me a lot of confidence moving forward.”
When Sharapova restarted her career in May 2009 after 10 months out she was only able to serve with a very limited action and was ranked down at 126.
Sharapova has gradually worked her way back to world number two after an operation in 2008
She still does not have the range of overhead function she once had but makes up for some of the loss with better placement.
“I feel like my movement has definitely improved this year,” she added. “I think that’s because I played a lot of matches. That helps you.”
Despite all her setbacks Sharapova’s profile has remained high enough for her to remain the highest paid female in sport.
She was also awarded the WTA Tour’s fan favourite singles player, the WTA humanitarian of the year, the WTA most fashionable player (on court), WTA most fashionable player (off court), and even the WTA Tour player with the most dramatic expression!
And this year Sharapova has been named in Forbes magazine as one of the world’s 100 most powerful celebrities.
Her earlier than expected arrival in Istanbul created an opportunity to recuperate by re-visiting her childhood haunts at Sochi, on the other side of the Black Sea, little more than 500 miles away.
Sharapova and Wozniacki will be joined at the Sinan Erdem Dome by three of the four Grand Slam winners this year—Li Na, the French Open champion from China, Kvitova, the Wimbledon champion from the Czech republic, and Samantha Stosur, the US Open champion from Australia. (Agencies)