Russian cutie pie, Maria Sharapova, made her long awaited return to tennis after seven months off because of a shoulder injury with a doubles match at the 2009 WTA BNP Paribas Open.
Sharapova teamed up with compatriot Elena Vesnina for the match. Unfortunately it was a one-match tournament for her comeback. They lost to the team of Ekaterina Makarova of Russia and Tatiana Poutchek of Belarus, 6-1, 4-6, 10-7 in the 1st round.
Sharapova said she was glad to be back. She was quoted at ESPN Sports: “It feels pretty good, it’s pretty amazing. I came here and just wanted to test it out. I started training a couple of months ago and I thought I’d test it out in a match situation and play in front of a crowd, and it was exciting.”
Sharapova did not play in the singles competition at Indian Wells and though she said her shoulder felt good she warned it might be some time before she returns full-time.
“I think the hump I’ve got to get through right now is to put two weeks of playing two, three sets every single day, for two weeks and feeling great, 100 percent,” she added. “Right now I am able to do maybe three days, four days and then I have to take it easy on the fifth.
“Obviously that’s not the way to go about a tournament in singles, so that’s what I am working up to right now and whenever that comes, that’s when I’ll be playing singles,” she said.
Well, maybe she’s back, maybe she’s not. It doesn’t sound too promising. Time will tell.
