Maria Sharapova wins probably the most compelling 1^st round of the season against Simona Halep at the US Open. The Russian had (another) controversial wild card in New York to face immediately the Romanian in the first round.

Maria seemed to be up for an easy win after she conquered a solid 6-4 4-1 lead. Then it was time for Simona to use all her pride to stage an amazing comeback and win 5 consecutive games to bring the affair to the decider.

Sharapova conquered another strong lead (5-2) in the 3rd set, but it seemed as Simona didn’t wasn’t to bow and she was close from staging another great comeback. After holding her serve (5-3), Simona had a crucial break point in the following game (30-40) with Maria struggling a bit with her nerves. Eventually, the Russian found her composure to hold serve and win the match 6-4 4-6 6-3 after 2 hours and 45 minutes.

“This girl has a lot of grit and she’s not going anywhere,” @MariaSharapova after her win over (2) Halep tonight.#USOpen pic.twitter.com/UAyA9hyBoi

— US Open Tennis (@usopen) August 29, 2017

From Sharapova

After the match, Maria commented

“You try and think it’s another day, another opportunity but it was so much more.

You never know how you are going to feel until match point but you figure it’s all worth it. Behind this little black dress and the Swarovski crystals, there is a girl with a lot of grit and she’s not going anywhere.”

Next vs. Babos

Maria will face Timea Babos in the 2^nd round. They have never played each other so far.