Maria Sharapova laid down a marker to the rest of the tennis world in the early hours on Tuesday morning.
Competing in the first round of the US Open as a wildcard, the 30-year-old returned to Grand Slam tennis for the first time since last year's Australian Open.
Missing the subsequent six Grand Slam tournaments as a result of her doping ban and injury, the Russian returned to action overnight, defeating World number two Simona Halep in three sets.
Sharapova was previously unbeaten against Halep, but the win sends a signal to her opponents in New York. She has yet to win a tournament since returning from her ban, but Sharapova could do so next week.
After defeating Halep, the Russian could reach the quarter-finals without facing any other players in the top-ten. Sharapova's ranking of 146th in the World clearly does not show how good she is playing.
'Maria Sharapova is back in the BIG time'
What a match! 👊👊👊 pic.twitter.com/Wl5yNxpv7o— Eurosport (@eurosport) August 29, 2017
Even though Halep has failed to beat Sharapova in six separate occasions, the result came as a surprise to the former champion.
Despite not playing a lot of matches coming into this, 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.
Despite returning to the tournament amid a cloud of uncertainty following her doping ban, the Russian returned in a diamond-encrusted dress.
Behind all these Swarokski crystals and little black dresses, this girl has a lot of grit and isn't going anywhere.
The New York crowd were certainly behind Sharapova in her first round match, but the further she goes in the tournament, the more questions will be asked.
She faces Hungary's Timea Babos in the second round.
