Maria Sharapova is set re-enter the world’s top 10 next year if she stays fit, according to the president of the Russian tennis Federation.
Shamil Tarpischev has praised the former world No.1 for her performance this season, despite her injury setbacks. Sharapova returned to the tour from a 15-month doping ban in April. It wasn’t until her penultimate tournament of 2017 where she secured her breakthrough after winning the Tianjin Open in China. Overall, Sharapova has won 16 out of the 22 matches played this season.
“Sharapova had several outstanding matches this season, but her injury kept her out from winning more points,” Tarpischev said in an interview with TASS.
Sharapova was forced to miss the entire grass-court swing due to a muscle tear. She also withdrew from events in Stanford and Toronto due to a left forearm injury. Regardless of the issues, the 30-year-old has managed to rise back up to 60th in the world. Aided by a run to the semifinals in Stuttgart and a win over Simona Halep at the US Open.
Looking ahead to 2018, Tarpischev expects the five-time grand slam champion to rise further up the ranks. Predicting her to return back to the top-10 for the first time since May 2016. During her career, Sharapova has spent a total of 21 weeks as world No.1.
“She was forced to skip five or six prestigious tournaments and is now ranked 60th among the best women tennis players, and this is not a bad result since she would be now among seeded players at lower-rank tournaments and earning more points consequently,” the Russian tennis chief reflected.
“I believe that Sharapova would manage to finish the next season ranked in the Top-10,” he added.
Whilst predicting great things for Sharapova on the WTA Tour, it seems that she will not feature in the Fed Cup. Russia has been relegated to World Group II following their loss to Belgium in the play-offs. They will start their campaign next year against Slovakia.
“It will be unfeasible for Sharapova to play next year (for the national team) since we will be taking part in the lower division,” explained Tarpischev.
Sharapova has only participated in five Fed Cup ties so far in her career.
