Woodbridge: Sharapova’s blueprint for success

In the blueprint that Maria Sharapova put down for her comeback, she’s probably not where she wanted to be at this point. That has partly come down to injury, but also the politics that she has had to absorb. She has handled both those things maturely and come out of this situation as best as she possibly could.

Going forward, I will be intrigued to see what the US Open do with their wildcard. From day one I’ve always said that she deserves wildcards: she’s done her time, done everything everyone has asked, she’s a genuine draw card, and one of the best candidates to get one. You can’t hold her to the suspension for the rest of her life.

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But if the USTA choose to not offer her a wildcard into the main draw, that might be no bad thing for her.

Of the Grand Slams, there are two where players can replicate main draw in qualifying: the Australian and US Opens. At Flushing Meadows they would put her on an outside show court and could easily accommodate the inevitable media circus. She should be able to get through three qualifying matches, and after that would be in pretty good form going into the tournament. She would have also got rid of some of the nerves (and a lot of the hoo-ha) that would inevitably accompany her first match.

The US Open is an aggressive event for the women – it’s a 1-2-3 hit tournament – and that suits Maria’s game style.

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That said, I don’t know whether we’re looking at a Kim Clijsters situation here – she is obviously still carrying some of the demons that came with her suspension. But if she was able to win one of the lead-up events, it would be hard for the US Open not to give her a wildcard – and even harder not to see her going deep there.

That’s important: the women’s game needs to have Maria playing well.

Wimbledon was a great story with Muguruza coming through, but it was also important to have Venus in there as it brought in the audience that comes with the established generation. Women’s tennis needs its stars – Maria is the biggest of them – while younger players get established.

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We’ve spoken about this before: it’s time for the new generation of players to step up and be consistent. But not one or two players, we need five or six. Look at the men’s game – we talk about the top four, but really it’s the top five.

The women’s game needs Maria’s star power, at least until the next players get established and can compete alongside her.