Flushing Meadows welcomes back Maria Sharapova with open arms as Russian edges past Timea Babos

In her remarkable victory on the opening day over the world No 2, Simona Halep, the support for Sharapova was overwhelming and it was a similar story in her second-round win over Babos

Maria Sharapova celebrates after victory in the second round at the US Open (Getty)

Sporting crowds can be hard on competitors who return after drugs offences. Just look at the way the British public treated the sprinter Justin Gatlin at this summer’s world athletics championships in London.

Here at the US Open, however, you would hardly have guessed that Maria Sharapova’s absence from Grand Slam competition since last January had been because of the 15-month suspension she served after testing positive for the banned drug meldonium at last year’s Australian Open.

The crowds at Flushing Meadows have welcomed their former champion back with open arms. In her remarkable victory on the opening day over the world No 2, Simona Halep, the support for Sharapova in Arthur Ashe Stadium was overwhelming.

If the atmosphere inside the biggest arena in world tennis is usually more passionate at night matches, there was still no doubt who the New York public wanted to win when Sharapova faced Hungary’s Timea Babos in the second round on Wednesday afternoon.

Sharapova gave a much less assured performance than she had against Halep, but when she was struggling in the second set the crowd got behind the Russian as she ground out a 6-7, 6-4, 6-1 victory.

“I've had an amazing reaction from fans since I’ve been back and that’s been very special,” Sharapova said afterwards. “I felt it while I was away. I felt it in a real presence since I’ve been back. It’s a very special feeling.”

Sharapova faced some hard questioning from the media when she returned to competition in Europe in the spring, but there has not been much critical comment on this side of the Atlantic over the summer. During television coverage of her matches there is little mention of the background to her 15-month break from competition.

Sharapova still remains a crowd favourite in the US despite serving a drug ban (Getty)

The differing reactions in Europe and the United States to her drugs ban were exemplified by the decisions of the French and US Opens when it came to whether to offer wild cards to the 30-year-old Russian, whose ranking was too low to secure an automatic place in the main draw of either event. Paris declined the chance to hand her a free pass while New York laid out the red carpet.

Patrick Mouratoglou, the coach of Serena Williams, is among those who disagree with the United States Tennis Association’s decision. “If someone gets caught for doping, this person shouldn’t be helped to come back faster to the top of the game,” the Frenchman told CNN Sport. “Part of the punishment is to start from zero, build it up, go to smaller tournaments and do it the hard way.”

Contrast that attitude with comments by Brad Gilbert, one of the ESPN commentary team here and a highly respected voice in the United States and beyond.


 Timea Babos shakes hands with Sharapova after their second round encounter 
 (Getty)

“If the Open wants to give Maria a wild card and they feel like it’s best for the event, more power to them,” he said. “They don’t feel that somebody telling them that because somebody didn’t get a wild card there, that doesn’t mean they can’t get one here. A wild card is at the tournament’s discretion.”

From the moment Sharapova revealed that she had failed a drugs test her team worked tirelessly to turn the publicity tide in her favour. It is a policy that has clearly reaped a dividend here.

The Russian herself said that she had taken meldonium - which was not banned until the start of last year - on medical advice. She also insisted that the tennis authorities had not done enough to inform players about the changes in the list of banned drugs. When the initial two-year ban imposed on her was reduced on appeal to 15 months, the reaction from her team was almost as if she had been completely exonerated.

Even six months before her scheduled return it was evident that the tennis community in the United States would welcome her back. In October last year Billie Jean King was all smiles as the joint host with Elton John of the World Team Tennis Smash Hits event in Las Vegas, where John McEnroe and Martina Navratilova high-fived Sharapova on court.

Elsewhere, however, a number of players were critical of the way that tournaments lined up to offer Sharapova wild cards when her ban expired in April. Eugenie Bouchard called her “a cheater” and added: “I don’t think a cheater in any sport should be allowed to play that sport again. It’s so unfair to all the other players who do it the right way and are true.”

The public here are well aware that Sharapova has spent most of her life in the United States. She trained in Florida at the academy founded by Nick Bollettieri from the age of nine and now lives on the west coast of the US. She speaks English with an American accent. Glamorous, rich and successful, she embodies the American dream.

Steve Flink, a highly experienced American tennis writer and broadcaster, said: “Americans regard her almost as one of their own. They know how much time she has spent over here, how she trained at Bollettieri’s, the whole deal. They think of her as one of them. She can have a very cold side to her, but the Maria who comes out on that court and competes always seems to win over these crowds.”

Henry Santoro, news anchor on WGBH Radio, agreed. “She’s always been a crowd favourite in this country,” he said. “The tennis world in particular really embraces her.”