Looking back on Sharapova's comeback year

It’s been one year since Maria Sharapova made her return to competition in 2017 at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix after a 15-month drug-related suspension. The three-time Stuttgart has endured her fair share of ups and downs, and challenging draws, including a first round against No. 6-seeded Caroline Garcia this week.

Sharapova would lose to Garcia despite winning the first set, extending her 2018 losing streak to four.

Here’s a look back at some of Sharapova's more noteworthy moments.

Semifinals in Stuttgart '17

In the first of her three planned tournaments in which she was awarded a wild card, Sharapova makes the most of it and advances to the semifinal before falling to Kristina Mladenovic.

Stopped by Bouchard

In her next tournament in Madrid, Sharapova faced Eugenie Bouchard—one of her most outspoken critics—in the second round. The young Canadian backed up her talk with a three-set win.

No French Open Wild Card, Injury Layoff

Sharapova was stopped by a thigh injury in the second round in Rome, and shortly afterward, it was announced she wouldn’t get a wild card into qualifying or the main draw at the French Open. Her injury also forced her to miss the grass-court season.

A Major Upset at the US Open

More injuries slowed the Russian down during the summer hard-court stretch, but she made a major statement at the U.S. Open by knocking off number-two seed Simona Halep in the first round and advancing to the last 16.

Success in Asia, Back in the Top 60

After the US Open, Sharapova was granted wild cards for the China Open and Tianjin Open. She lost in the third round in Beijing, but captured Tianjin for her first title in more than two years.

An Unstoppable Book Tour

Off the court, the five-time Grand Slam champion spent time promoting her memoir, “Unstoppable,” which included a stop at the Tennis Channel studios. There, she said, “Writing this book was really therapeutic for me in a way.”

A Roller-Coaster 2018, So Far

In her first tournament of the new year, Sharapova advanced to the semifinals in Shenzhen, then followed that up with a third-round showing at the Australian Open. In her next two tournaments, she dropped her opening matches to Monica Niculescu and Naomi Osaka in Qatar and Indian Wells, respectively.

Sharapova hasn't won a match since the Australian Open, and a left forearm injury kept her out of Miami. Her hopes of a successful comeback in Stuttgart were ended on Tuesday.

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