MARIA ON DEFENSE

 

First round press-conference, Porsche Tennis Grand Prix Stuttgart 2017

Tennis world has been discussing and anticipating Maria Sharapova's return and its attending circumstances. Most top tennis players and analytics expressed their criticism of the wild cards she was given and the WTA's welcoming attitude towards her return. That's why her triumphant first match with Roberta Vinci was a serious trial for Maria wherein she had to prove that her performance was up to the mark without the usage of any banned substances, and her shape was good enough to bring her to the top of the rankings again. 
Having shown pretty good condition for someone out of professional tour for fifteen months, Sharapova won several subsequent matches and made her way well into the semi-finals, where she was unexpectedly defeated by Kristina Mladenovic, though showed persistence and character. This can be considered quite an achievement for someone under the same circumstances as Sharapova, though Maria's part of the draw didn't have any of the potential long-term threats for Maria like Serena Williams, Vika Azarenka, Anna Ivanovic or Angelique Kerber. Even inconvenient Agnieszka Radwanska was dismissed at the very beginning of the tournament. Female tennis, however, is often called unpredictable. Before the ban, while being in her best shape and leading in score, Maria was known for sudden twists in her game. The first after-match press-conference showed that it's not the title that everyone was expecting of her, it's Sharapova's comment of all the opinions on her comeback that everyone was eager to hear.
At the premier press-conference after her match with Vinci, Maria was even more composed and defensive than she was on court. She was evidently expecting all the unpleasant questions about her failing the doping test and her collegues being not supportive. She looked tense and often asked to repeat the questions that had to do with the sensitive topics for her. For example, when asked about the potential unwelcoming reception on the part of the audience, Maria spoke about her return in general. When asked about her collegues disapproving reaction to her wildcards, she spoke about getting a wildcard and her history with the tournament, and said the draw was tough with so many good players competing. To the direct question whether she considered the wildcards to be justified or sending the wrong message to the young generation, Maria said she still had to win matches to get the trophies and it sounded like wildcards weren't such a big deal, or that it was up to the tournament directors, not to her to make that kind of decisions. To many other provocative questions the journalists asked, Maria kept replying that it wasn't her job to have some opinion about the remarks of her fellow-players. Her job was to play tennis which she was doing. She pointed out she had no control over what other people were saying, and didn't agree to share her agent's opinion about the tennis girls who criticised her. She said building or destroying relations with her collegues was pointless as it wasn't going to influence her game. She avoided answering many of the questions directly, insisting that all she was concerned about was playing tennis and concentrating on her game. Every time she was asked a general question unrelated to the doping ban, she looked obviously relieved and answered easily and sincerely. Every time, and those times prevailed, she was asked a doping ban or wildcard return-related question, she had to compose herself and take some effort to return the question much in the same way she would do to return a tennis ball to her opponent on court. 
So, obviously, Sharapova survived both her first match and her first post-return press-conference with dignity, without making any scandalous claims or returning the unpleasant comments. It's only the outcome of the tournament that confirmed the reason of everybody's protest against Sharapova's wildcards. The winner, Laura Siegemund of Germany, got a wildcard as a home player. She was lucky to get it and use it to the full, though had a good chance not to. Instead, some other German player didn't get the wildcard Sharapova was given. Surely, Maria Sharapova looks full of dignity saying her job's only to play tennis and that's it. It's not her, it's the tournament directors who are after Maria offering wildcards. It's her agent who's entitled to his own opinion beyond her control. It's not doping, it's some misunderstanding with the health medication and WTA new directives. It's Maria on her defense - nothing personal, only tennis.