It did not come without controversy, but Maria Sharapova returned, as a wild card, to her first major since January of 2016 after serving a suspension and suffering an injury. She made the most of it as she eliminated Simona Halep 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 in a high-quality match.

The battle had the feel of a semifinal, as Sharapova came out swinging big and aggressively, but Halep’s defensive prowess was on full display as she used her strength to stay on equal footing. With each competitor looking to impose their contrasting style, it was Sharapova who would gain the advantage first with a service break to go to 3-1. But with the New York crowd fully engaged, Halep would strike back as a streak of breaks began. However, with play back on serve and Halep serving at 4-5, Sharapova’s high risk-high reward brand of tennis paid off as she continued to take big strikes and broke the Romanian to take the set. The 30-year-old overcame 25 unforced errors with 28 winners in the set.

In the second set, Sharapova continued her aggressive, attacking style and she targeted Halep’s second serve. Her quick strike approach placed her in the driver’s seat as she gained an early break and ran the score to 4-1, with a break point opportunity to go to 5-1. But just when it appeared that the second-seed was on the ropes, she scrapped back, held serve and fought to earn back-to-back service breaks. Her play lifted as Sharapova’s dipped. With the Russian looking to end points quickly with huge strokes, Halep rolled off five straight games to take the set, capitalizing on 27 unforced errors.

After leaving the court between sets, Sharapova finally returned and reset in the third. After holding serve in the opening game, she promptly broke Halep’s serve to gain a 2-0 advantage as the momentum shifted back to her side. Once again, Sharapova ran the score up to 4-1, but this time, the 2006 US Open champion closed it out despite a late rally by the Romanian. Serving for the match, after overcoming a break point, Sharapova closed it out on her racket and was overcome by emotion as she fell to her knees. It was her first victory at the US Open since 2014.

In her post-match interview, a teary-eyed Sharapova said, “I thought this was another day, another match, but this was so much more, you never know what you will feel until you win match point.” Asked what she had learned about herself, she said, “These are the opportunities you play for. Behind all these Swarovski crystal and dresses, this girl has a lot of grit and she is not going anywhere.”

She will look to continue to advance when she faces Timea Babos next.