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NEW YORK. — Former world number one Maria Sharapova battled back on Wednesday to reach the third round of the US Open while next-generation rising tennis stars Alexander Zverev and Nick Kyrgios crashed out.
Sharapova, who downed second-ranked Simona Halep in her first Grand Slam match after a 15-month doping ban, defeated Hungary’s 59th-ranked Timea Babos 6-7 (4/7), 6-4, 6-1 at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
“It wasn’t my best tennis,” Sharapova said. “It was scrappy tennis but sometimes those kind of matches are a lot of fun and this was one of those days.”
The 30-year-old Russian, who next faces Russian-born US teen Sofia Kenin, tested positive for meldonium at the 2016 Australian Open, her most recent Grand Slam appearance until this week.
“Every day I have the chance I have to play at the US Open is a special day and I’ll look forward to the next one,” 146th-ranked Sharapova said.
Sharapova, whose five Grand Slam titles include the 2006 US Open, played only one Open tuneup match after a forearm injury but wore down Halep and Babos to prove she’s a threat for a deep run, with Latvian 16th seed Anastasija Sevastova her top-ranked potential semi-final obstacle.
Fourth seed Zverev, whose five ATP titles this year include a win over Roger Federer in this month’s Montreal final, fell to 61st-ranked Croatian Borna Coric 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7/1), 7-6 (7/4).
The 20-year-old German had been the highest-ranked player in his half of an injury-hit Open draw.
“It’s upsetting because the draw is pretty open in the bottom part,” Zverev said. “I felt like I should have been the favorite there. I just played a very, very bad match, so it’s unfortunate.”
Coric, who faces South African Kevin Anderson for a last-16 berth, was one point from a fifth set before winning five in a row to force the deciding tie-breaker.
“I was just thinking to keep the points shorter,” Coric said. “And yeah, I was a little bit lucky.”
Zverev’s ouster left US 10th seed John Isner the top-ranked player in his draw quarter and Croatian fifth seed Marin Cilic the best in his half of the draw.
Wimbledon runner-up Cilic, the 2014 US Open winner, reached the third round by beating Germany’s Florian Mayer 6-3, 6-3, 6-3.
Kyrgios, the 14th seed and former top-rated obstacle in Federer’s quarter-final path, hurt his right shoulder in a 6-3, 1-6, 6-4, 6-1 first-round loss to 235th-ranked fellow Aussie John Millman.
“Early in the third set I hit one serve and I never felt the same after that,” Kyrgios said. — AFP.
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