The last WTA Mandatory event of the year is coming up – and Maria Sharapova will enter the tournament in Beijing as a hopeful outsider.
It’s been a long time since tennis fans have seen Maria Sharapova in tennis action.The events in Tokyo and Wuhan have left out the former world number one, and since their defeat of Anastasija Sevastova at the US Open, they have focused more on promoting their book “Unstoppable”.Next week, however, the time has come again: Sharapova will compete at the last WTA Mandatory event of the year in Beijing.
And the Russian is already training locally, as she announced via the social media.
Sharapova uses a wildcard, her current world ranking of 104 places in the rankings doesn’t give the 30-year-old a place in the main field.The performances at the US Open were partly of the highest entertainment value, especially the three-set-success against Simona Halep right at the beginning.Incidentally, even after a long break: Before her appearance in Flushing Meadows, Maria Sharapova could only play one match on hard court, in Stanford against Jennifer Brady.
The expected tasks at the China Open couldn’t be more difficult: The entire world elite will be honoured from Sunday in Beijing, and Elina Svitolina and Venus Williams, who have been pausing in Wuhan this week, will also be on the entry list.Sharapova is about to have at least one big test, the meeting with Halep at Arthur Ashe Stadium was the only one since her comeback with a top ten player.
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