Maria Sharapova escaped her drama-filled past several months to carry out the assignment of a lifetime.
The question now is whether she can feed off the emotions from that to take her tennis to the next level.
Sharapova was one of the torch bearers during the opening ceremony of the 2014 Winter Olympics in her home county of Russia on Friday night.
"That was the best jog of my life! Running will never feel the same. #OpeningCeremony," she posted on her Twitter account. More photos appeared via Sports Illustrated.
After the event, she shared a photo with another comment: "Did this really happen!? #pinchme #OpeningCeremony #Sochi12014 pic.twitter.com/BjNKGaDpB9"
Her Olympic duties likely were a welcome respite from her roller-coaster ride since the final of the 2013 French Open, in which she lost to archrival Serena Williams 6-4, 6-4.
The two then had a war of words about each other's boyfriends on the eve of Wimbledon before flaming out in the second round.
She fired coach Thomas Hogstedt and paired with Jimmy Connors as she prepared for the WTA Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati in August. She collapsed in a three-set loss to Sloane Stephens, abruptly fired Connors after the one match.
In preparation for the U.S. Open, Sharapova intended to legally change her name to "Sugarpova" to promote her new candy company, but ended up dropping out of the tournament before it started because of a lingering shoulder injury that ended her 2013 season prematurely.
Sharapova would later say her shoulder injury played a big factor in her breakup with Connors because she was not in the correct frame of mind to receive instruction.
She hired Sven Groeneveld in November and faced Williams again in the semifinals of the Brisbane International - her 14th straight loss to the world's No. 1 player.
Sharapova then lost in the fourth round of the Australian Open to Dominka Cibulkova.
How the Olympic torch-bearing affects her tennis moving forward remains to be seen, but based on her Twitter response, she has to be feeling pretty motivated right about now.
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