WTA: Maria Sharapova – Small title, but oho!

Maria Sharaopova has won 35 titles so far in her career – if the Russon were to be successful again in Tianjin on Sunday, this victory would still have a special significance.

Aryna Sabalenka has big plans for 2017.The 19-year-old didn’t expect that there would be another highlight before the Fed Cup final with the Belarusian team against the USA.How could I?Sabalenka entered the WTA tournament in Tianjin as number 102 and is in the final on Sunday.And this against Maria Sharapova.

For the 30-year-old Russian, stage fright is likely to move in different spheres from her young opponent, for whom the final is a premiere on the WTA tour.Sharapova, on the other hand, has collected 35 titles in her illustrious career, including at least one major each.Tianjin could nevertheless become a very special story for Sharapova, after all, the signs point to the first tournament victory after her doping ban.

The event began with the cancellation of Caroline Garcia, which affected Maria Sharapova to the extent that the French woman had played her opening match against her.And this was after Garcia won the two biggest titles of her career in Wuhan and Beijing, qualifying for the WTA final in Singapore.

Maria Sharapova will not be able to finish the season until next year.She is currently in 82nd position in the world ranking, with her 36th place.Sharapova’s first win since Rome in 2015 could move up to 57th place.Still not the regions where it normally operates – but still a guarantee that the requests for wildcards will soon come to an end.It is quite easy for the tournament organizers to consider the woman with the enormous glamour factor with a free seat in the main field.

Aryna Sabalenka first has to acquire this splendour, the encounter with Maria Sharapova will be her first, with clearly distributed roles.

“After all I’ve seen, she’s a really good player,”said Sharapova after her smooth semi-final win over Shuai Peng,”she’s hungry, young and motivated to be there at this stage of the tournament.It’s very flattering to be admired by someone, but it’s also dangerous because she wants to be in my position.”