Sharapova rags-to-riches journey resumes in Stuttgart

TIL Desk Sports/ From the shadow of Chernobyl’s nuclear wasteland to international super-stardom and from penniless arrival in the United States, without a word of English, to a fortune of USD 200 million. It may sound like the stuff of Hollywood dreams, but the story of Maria Sharapova is a testament to the power of one individual to make it, whatever the odds, whatever the controversy, whatever people think.

Tomorrow in Stuttgart, the 30-year-old will return from a 15-month doping suspension to open the next chapter. When she takes to the court to face Roberta Vinci, it will be to the consternation of many opponents and the relief, albeit privately, of a women’s tour left flagging by the absence of Serena Williams, probably Sharapova’s only serious rival in the arena-filling business.

Sharapova shot to international fame as a giggly 17- year-old Wimbledon winner in 2004 — the third youngest player to conquer the All England Club’s famous grass courts. She would go on to win the Australian and US Opens while claiming two titles at the French Open, despite famously likening her movement on Roland Garros’s crushed red brick to a “cow on ice”.