Maria Sharapova starts countdown for her comeback
Three tournaments played in 2019, then the surgery on the right shoulder, but Maria Sharapova's comeback is now imminent. The Russian is still trying to find a place for herself after her 15-month ban for using Meldonium, which saw her out of competition between April 2016 and April 2017. The comeback in 2017 took place in Stuttgart. Evidently, the German tournament means a moment of rebirth for her, as, again this year, her return would seem to be scheduled for Aprill 22nd, right on the Stuttgart clay courts.
This year Masha reached the quarter-finals in Shenzhen, where she lost to Aryna Sabalenka, the fourth round at the Australian Open, where she was eliminated by Ashleigh Barty and the second round of St. Petersburg (out against Daria Kasatkina).
The shoulder gave her problems for a long time, and the last surgery should, in theory, have almost completely solved the problems. The come back on clay courts, for her, will be a positive factor; clay is the surface on which Sharapova, in the past six years, has been expressing her best tennis, although she was born, from the point of view of tennis, on the lawns of Church Street, at Wimbledon.
The return during the clay season could give her the right confidence, but what she really needs is to find herself again. If from the mental point of view she is always solid, determined and with great charisma, her body will have to give her the answers she has been looking for the past two years.
Answers that, since April 2017, have arrived only in a little part. She is always there, ready to fight on every point. If from the physical point of view she should back in a good state and, if she were to find the right athletic shape, then we will finally see the true Maria Sharapova again. Her possible return is good for the world of tennis, which will regain another of its great stars. A matter of weeks, then all questions and doubts will finally be answered.
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2D7gvEJ
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