Maria Sharapova

PARIS: It came as a surprise that Maria Sharapova, a two-time French Open champion and former world number one, was sent to Court One for her second-round match, but she’ll most likely be back in the spotlight on Saturday. The Russian, back at Roland Garros as 28th seed after a two-year hiatus, beat Croatia’s Donna Vekic 7-5 6-4 on Thursday on “the Bullring”, a court with less space around the lines, possibly making her task harder. Sharapova has been used to play on the biggest courts at Grand Slams since she came to…

Maria Sharapova fired a French Open warning with an epic three-hour win over Roland Garros champion Jelena Ostapenko to reach the Rome semi-finals on Friday as Rafael Nadal continued his clay court domination.

MADRID: Maria Sharapova reached the Madrid Open quarter-finals on Wednesday with an impressive 6-3, 6-4 demolition of France's Kristina Mladenovic. Former world number one Sharapova fired 30 winners and nine aces in her victory which gave her a last-eight clash with Dutch player Kiki Bertens who knocked out world number two Caroline Wozniacki 6-2, 6-2. Mladenovic, the world number 22, was runner-up in Madrid last year but she had no answer to the firepower of Sharapova who is set to at least return to the top 40 next…

Former world number one Maria Sharapova will compete at the Birmingham Classic grasscourt event in the lead-up to Wimbledon.

MELBOURNE: Maria Sharapova was sent crashing out of the Australian Open in a crushing defeat by Angelique Kerber Saturday as Simona Halep survived a titanic struggle to make the last 16. With the temperatures a manageable 26 Celsius (79 Farenheit) at Melbourne Park after two days of oven-like conditions, the Russian was no match for the German, flopping 6-1, 6-3 in a battle of the former champions. Fourth seed Alexander Zverev was another high-profile casualty on day six, beaten in five sets by South Korea's Chung…

MELBOURNE: Novak Djokovic and Stan Wawrinka sailed through injury tests at the Australian Open on Tuesday with focused former champion Maria Sharapova also successfully getting back to business after her drug ban. Twelve-time Grand Slam winner Djokovic has been out of action for six months with an elbow injury, but you wouldn't have known it in his 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 demolition of American Donald Young. Former Melbourne champion Wawrinka also returned from half a year on the sidelines after knee surgery, having only decided…

Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova received a surprise marriage proposal from a fan at an exhibition game in Istanbul, Turkey. SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO The five-time Grand Slam winner, who is on tour as part of her preparations for next season, made a stop in Istanbul on Sunday to face local player Cagla Buyukakcay. Türk seyirciden Maria Sharapova’ya evlenme teklifi! https://t.co/RFRitJhkb6 pic.twitter.com/SK8YR1de69 — Hurriyet.com.tr (@Hurriyet) November 27, 2017 Sharapova was getting ready to serve when a fan…

NEW DELHI: Five-time Grand Slam champion Maria Sharapova is under investigation in India for cheating and criminal conspiracy after the collapse of a luxury housing project that she endorsed, police and a lawyer said on Tuesday. The firm behind the development is alleged to have taken millions of dollars from homebuyers before the project folded. "We have registered a case of cheating on directions from the court," said local police officer Arvind Sharma. He said Sharapova and the firm behind the development,…

MOSCOW: Five-time Grand Slam champion Maria Sharapova crashed out in the first round of the Kremlin Cup in Moscow on Tuesday, losing in straight sets to Slovakia's Magdalena Rybarikova. Rybarikova, seeded eighth, overcame the former world number one 7-6 (7/3), 6-4 in one hour, 53 minutes to level her head-to-head record with Sharapova at one all. Sharapova was appearing in front of her home fans just 48 hours after claiming the Tianjin Open, her first title since returning in April from a 15-month doping ban. The…

BEIJING: Maria Sharapova won her first WTA title in more than two years at the Tianjin Open on Sunday, showing plenty of grit and determination as she came from behind in each set to beat Belarusian teenager Aryna Sabalenka 7-5 7-6(8). The former world number one, who returned to the tour in April following a 15-month doping ban, started the stronger, breaking Sabalenka in her opening service game, but struggled on serve and soon found herself trailing 4-1 in the first set. The Russian managed to hold serve for the…