Sharapova Is Trying to Regain Her Edge

Not sadder but a bit wiser, a struggling Maria Sharapova has returned Wimbledon, where she recorded a breakthrough victory in 2004 that launched a highly lucrative dual career of tennis and business endorsements.

Winning lower-level tournaments in Memphis and Strasbourg, the 16th-seeded Sharapova holds a 17-5 record for the year but no victories over former rivals like top-seeded Serena Williams, whom she defeated in the 2004 Wimbledon final for her first major title.

Sharapova, trying to regain her physical prowess after shoulder surgery, is attempting to return to the top levels of a sport that has grown more competitive.

Hitting a powerful serve, Sharapova fought her way to the finals of the Birmingham, England, warm-up tournament a week ago. She lost in the final to Na Li of China, 7-5, 6-1.

“The game is really deep now,” she said Saturday. “You have to be ready from the first round. You have to have that intensity and belief in yourself, absolutely.”

Sharapova said her first-round opponent, Kateryna Bondarenko of the Ukraine, “plays really solid tennis, plays really great on grass. It’s going to be a touch match.”

What of the hill she is climbing to regain her standing?

“Everyone is going to have setbacks,” she said. “I certainly knew that some people have never come back from it.” The thought “always crosses your mind.”

Sharapova said that traveling back from extended injury layoffs in 2008 and 2009 had strengthened her love of the sport.

“When you’re on the court, you have to put many things in perspective and realize that it’s not all rainbows and butterflies, that you’re going to have your days and moments when it’s not gonna be so fun.”

Then she said, “But we hit a tennis ball for a living, so, can’t be that bad.”

Notes: Dinara Safina, who was seeded 20th, has withdrawn from Wimbledon due to a lower-back injury. Her position in the draw will be taken by the American Melanie Oudin, the 33rd seed. Oudin’s place in the draw was taken by the lucky loser Stephanie Dubois of Canada. By John Martin, The New York Times