NEW YORK, Aug 31: No one, not even Maria Sharapova herself, knew quite what to expect from her return to Grand Slam tennis at the U.S. Open.

It had been 19 months since she had entered a major tournament. She played only nine times anywhere since a 15-month doping suspension ended in April. Two three-set tussles into her stay at Flushing Meadows, it’s clear that Sharapova’s game might be patchy, but she is as capable as ever of coming up with big strokes in big moments — and maybe, just maybe, could stick around for a while in a depleted draw that’s already missing four of the top seven seeded women.

Sharapova became the first woman into the third round at the U.S. Open by using 12 aces to help set aside a poor start and coming back to beat Timea Babos of Hungary 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-1 on Wednesday in Arthur Ashe Stadium.

“Look, I certainly have expectations, just because I know I’ve been in these stages before and I’ve been able to execute. There’s a certain level of ’I know I can do this. I’ve done it before. I want to have that feeling again,’” Sharapova said. “But there’s also the realistic understanding of, ‘OK, you haven’t been in this situation for a while. It’s going to take a little time.’ Of course, managing expectations is part of it, learning as you play the matches, which is something I haven’t done for a long time.”

Her victory was the highlight of a busy day that featured 87 singles matches on the schedule after rain washed out most play a day earlier. With so many matches going on, there were plenty of names to keep tabs on — and quite a few surprises. The most noteworthy second-round departures came at night: No. 4 Alexander Zverev and No. 8 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the men’s bracket, and No. 5 Caroline Wozniacki in the women’s.

Zverev, never past the fourth round at a major, was beaten 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (1), 7-6 (4) by fellow 20-year-old Borna Coric, and 2008 Australian Open finalist Tsonga put up little resistance while losing 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (3) to 18-year-old Canadian qualifier Denis Shapovalov. Two-time U.S. Open runner-up Wozniacki’s 6-2, 6-7 (5), 6-1 exit against 40th-ranked Ekaterina Makarova followed first-round losses by No. 2 Simona Halep, No. 6 Angelique Kerber and No. 7 Johanna Konta.

“It’s upsetting. Today was upsetting,” Zverev said, perhaps summing up others’ feelings, too. “The way I played was upsetting.”

Past U.S. Open champions advancing included Venus Williams and Marin Cilic into the third round, and Juan Martin del Potro and Svetlana Kuznetsova — who saved three match points — into the second. No. 14 Nick Kyrgios, No. 22 Fabio Fognini, No. 26 Richard Gasquet and No. 27 Pablo Cuevas all lost their openers.

In the early going, it looked as if Sharapova might join them on the way out.

She made 19 unforced errors in the first set, which ended with her missing twice on forehands to give the 59th-ranked Babos the lead. But as the match went on, Sharapova looked more and more like someone who used to be ranked No. 1 and owns five major titles — including the 2006 U.S. Open — than someone who needed a wild-card invitation from the U.S. Tennis Association because she is now 146th, on account of her ban and lack of play.

Sharapova last participated in a major tournament at the 2016 Australian Open, where she tested positive for the newly banned heart drug meldonium. She declined to answer a reporter’s question about how frequently she’s been drug-tested this year.

Babos said she thought it was “a little bit unfair for the other players” that Sharapova was let into the field, a sentiment echoed by No. 20 seed CoCo Vandeweghe of the U.S., who would have preferred that an American get that wild card.

But here Sharapova is, and she does not appear ready to be an easy out.

“Towards the end of the second set, I felt like I was the fresher player. Going into a third set, that’s a good position or a good feeling to have,” said the 30-year-old Russian, who wore a strip of black tape on the left forearm that bothered her earlier in the month.

She also had a sleeve on her right elbow, which she said was to keep that arm warm.

Sharapova cut down her miscues to 12 unforced errors in the second set, then just five in the third, and finished with a 39-13 advantage in winners, looking as strong as she did while eliminating No. 2 seed Simona Halep in a three-set thriller in Ashe on Monday.

“I definitely wanted to enjoy the quality of tennis that I played with the other night,” Sharapova said, “but I also wanted to put my mind onto this one.”

She already has spent nearly 5 hours on court, and so perhaps the yelling and fist-pumping she showed at the end against Babos were as much a reflection of a sense of relief as celebration.

If 14 return winners were a key to getting past Halep, it was Sharapova’s serving that really made a difference down the stretch against Babos: She won 16 of the last 19 points she served.

“In key moments, she showed why, no matter what happened to her, why she is a big player and good player,” Babos said, “because she came up with some very, very good shots and she didn’t miss her opportunities.” AP

NEW YORK, Aug 30: The question was rather simple after Angelique Kerber became only the second defending U.S. Open champion in the professional era to lose in the first round.

The surprisingly lopsided 6-3, 6-1 loss to 45th-ranked Naomi Osaka of Japan under the closed roof in Arthur Ashe Stadium at a rainy Flushing Meadows on Tuesday was former No. 1 Kerber’s latest in a long list of disappointing performances in 2017, so she was asked what she thinks went wrong this season.

She sighed, shrugged her shoulders and began to answer: “I don’t know.”

Moments later, her eyes darting around the room, she added, “This year is a completely different year.”

Talk about an understatement. In 2016, Kerber broke through to the top of tennis in a spectacular way. A player with only one previous Grand Slam semifinal appearance reached the first three major title matches of her career, winning two of them: She stunned Serena Williams in the Australian Open final, lost to Williams in the Wimbledon final, and then beat Karolina Pliskova in the U.S. Open final to rise to the top of the WTA rankings for the first time.

Her follow-up has been quite a flop. Kerber, a 29-year-old German, hasn’t won any title of any sort this season. She is only 25-18 overall, 0-9 against opponents ranked in the top 20, and Tuesday’s loss assured her of falling out of the top 10 for the first time since October 2015. At Grand Slam tournaments she is 6-4, including another first-round loss in May at the French Open, where she became that tournament’s first No. 1 seed to lose so early.

“I know that I’m strong and I know that I will come back stronger, for sure. I know that I will not (be) giving up,” said Kerber, the first defending champion to lose in the U.S. Open’s first round since Svetlana Kuznetsova in 2005.

Showers showed up before noon Tuesday and led to the postponements of dozens of matches. The only court used in the afternoon and evening was Ashe, thanks to the retractable cover constructed ahead of last year’s tournament.

The only men’s matches completed were there, and Roger Federer overcame a slow start and then a late lapse to edge 19-year-old American Frances Tiafoe 4-6, 6-2, 6-1, 1-6, 6-4 in a compelling first-rounder at night.

Federer’s footwork and strokes were off in the first set, and he repeatedly gave Tiafoe points via miscues. Federer then appeared to take control by grabbing eight of nine games en route to taking a 2-1 lead in sets. But Tiafoe rediscovered his own powerful shots to force a fifth set. Federer went up 3-1, then got broken while serving for the match at 5-3. But he broke right back, finally converting his third match point.

Federer earned his 79th career victory at the U.S. Open, equaling Andre Agassi for second-most behind Jimmy Connors’ 98.

Federer’s possible semifinal foe and chief rival for the title, No. 1 Rafael Nadal, overcame a first-set hiccup of his own before overpowering Dusan Lajovic of Serbia 7-6 (6), 6-2, 6-2.

The women’s No. 1 seed, Pliskova, easily advanced by beating Magda Linette 6-2, 6-1, French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko got past Lara Arruabarrena 6-2, 1-6, 6-1 in a match that started on Court 17 then was moved indoors at Ashe, and No. 23 Barbora Strycova defeated Misaki Doi 6-1, 6-3. Yet another seeded woman was eliminated when No. 28 Lesia Tsurenko lost to Yanina Wickmayer 6-3, 6-1.

At night in Ashe, No. 15 Madison Keys of the U.S. compiled a 32-9 edge in winners and moved into the second round by beating Elise Mertens of Belgium 6-3, 7-6 (6). Keys got broken while serving for the match at 6-5, and then faced a set point at 6-5 in the tiebreaker. But Keys delivered a big forehand to force a backhand error by Mertens, starting a three-point run for the American to close out the victory.

“I would say I was probably one of the luckier people all day,” Keys said, “to just kind of know I was going to get a match in today.”

Kerber’s exit further thins the women’s bracket, which was missing 23-time major champion Serena Williams to begin with because she is expecting a baby. Three of the top seven seeded women were gone before dinnertime on Day 2, with No. 6 Kerber joining Monday’s losers, No. 2 Simona Halep — beaten by Maria Sharapova in her first Grand Slam match since a 15-month doping suspension — and No. 7 Johanna Konta.

While Kerber’s quick departure was stunning in and of itself, that Osaka would be the one to do it might not be quite so remarkable, even if she is just 19 and never won before against a top-10 woman.

Osaka is comfortable around the grounds at Flushing Meadows, where she has been spending time, and even occasionally practicing, since she was a kid: She was born in Osaka, Japan, so represents that country, but moved to the U.S. when she was 3, has dual citizenship, and used to live on Long Island.

“The site,” Osaka said, “feels really familiar to me.”

She nearly upended Keys in the U.S. Open’s third round last year, leading 5-1 in the third set before losing in a tiebreaker, a collapse on her mind in the latter stages Tuesday.

This time, Osaka held steady, using her powerful baseline game to bully Kerber.

Osaka accumulated a 22-9 edge in winners, broke in half of Kerber’s eight service games and saved all four break points she faced.

“It was not my day,” Kerber summed up. “Completely not my day.”

Hasn’t been her year, either.  AP

NEW YORK, Aug 29: When Maria Sharapova’s first Grand Slam match after a 15-month doping suspension ended with a victory at the US Open, she dropped to her knees and covered her face, tears welling in her eyes.

This was merely a win to get to the second round, yes, but it also clearly meant so much more to Sharapova. It meant she was back.

Displaying as much emotion on court as she ever did after one of her five major championships, Sharapova recovered after faltering midway through the match and emerged to beat No. 2-seeded Simona Halep 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 at the US Open over more than 2½ hours Monday night.

“Behind all these Swarovski crystals and little black dresses,” Sharapova told the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd, “this girl has a lot of grit, and she’s not going anywhere.”

So much about Sharapova was the same as it ever was: the shot-punctuating shrieks, the aggressive baseline style, the terrific returning, the sometimes-shaky serving.

Another familiar sight: She gutted out a win.

“It’s been a while,” said Sharapova, who missed additional time after her ban because of injuries. “It almost seemed like I had no right to win this match today. And I somehow did. I think that is what I’m most proud of.”

After leading by a set and 4-1 in the second, Sharapova showed some fatigue and rust, dropping five games in a row. But in the third, Sharapova regained control by going ahead 3-0, using her power to keep two-time French Open runner-up Halep under pressure.

Sharapova had not played at a Grand Slam tournament since January 2016, when she tested positive for the newly banned heart drug meldonium during the Australian Open.

The 30-year-old Russian was allowed back on the tour this April, but she was denied a wild-card invitation for the French Open the next month. The US Tennis Association did grant a wild card to Sharapova, who was once ranked No. 1 but is currently 146th.

It was as if every one of Sharapova’s winners Monday — and she compiled 60, a startling 45 more than Halep — was her way of declaring, “Look out, everybody!”

Halep was among eight women who entered the U.S. Open with a chance to top the WTA rankings by tournament’s end. The draw at Flushing Meadows randomly paired the two players, providing a buzz-generating matchup that managed to live up to the hype on Day 1 at the year’s last Grand Slam tournament.

“I gave everything I had,” Halep said. “She was better.”

And at an event that began without Serena Williams, who is expecting a baby, and is already missing two of its top seven seeded women — No. 7 Johanna Konta, a Wimbledon semifinalist just last month, was upset by 78th-ranked Aleksandra Krunic of Serbia 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 — Sharapova must be considered a serious title contender. She did, after all, win the US Open in 2006.

But Sharapova wasn’t interested in looking too far ahead just yet.

“This is a big win for me, and I will enjoy it,” she said, “then move on to the next one.”

The last match on Monday’s schedule actually finished at 2:04 am on Tuesday: After Sharapova won, the fourth-seeded man, Alexander Zverev, needed to get through an 80-minute first set before eventually beating 168th-ranked qualifier Darian King 7-6 (9), 7-5, 6-4. King is the first player from Barbados to participate in a main-draw match at a major.

Sharapova vs. Halep was a tremendously entertaining and high-quality contest, more befitting a final than a first-rounder.

These two women have, indeed, faced off with a Grand Slam title at stake: Sharapova beat Halep in the 2014 French Open final, part of what is now her 7-0 head-to-head record in the matchup.

On Monday, they traded stinging shots, often with Sharapova — dressed in all black, from her visor, to her dress that sparkled under the lights, to her socks and shoes — aiming to end exchanges and Halep hustling into place to extend them.

“I expected her to hit everything,” Halep said. “Some balls were really good. I couldn’t even touch them.”

Points would last 10 or 12 strokes, or more, repeatedly leaving a sellout crowd of 23,771 in Arthur Ashe Stadium clapping and yelling and high-fiving, no matter which player won them. The chair umpire repeatedly admonished spectators to hush.

Halep blinked at the end of the hour-long first set, double-faulting to face a break point, then watching Sharapova punish a 71 mph second serve with a forehand return winner. That was Sharapova’s sixth return winner; she would finish with 14, more than enough to counter her seven double-faults.

Halep lamented that her serve was “very bad.”

Asked why, she answered: “I didn’t have the timing, the feeling. I don’t know why.”

It was quickly 4-1 for Sharapova in the second set and she held a break point there to allow her to go up 5-1 and serve for the victory. But she couldn’t convert it. Then, only then, did Sharapova struggle for a bit. Her footwork was off. Her forehand lost its way. She would end up losing that game and the next four, too, as Halep managed to force a third set.

But with the outcome in the balance, Sharapova once again looked as if she had never been away, improving to 11-0 in first-round matches in New York.

She was asked during her on-court interview what the low point was while forced off the tour.

“There were definitely a few,” Sharapova allowed, before adding: “But I don’t think this is the time to talk about that.” AP