Maria Sharapova will take the court Friday night at the U.S. Open in New York, the latest step in a return to the court for the five-time Grand Slam champion following a 15-month ban by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) for taking the banned substance meldonium.

Sitting in the Russian tennis star's personal box will be Fox Rothschild litigation co-chair John Haggerty, who was also in attendance on Monday when Sharapova beat No. 2 ranked Simona Halep in her first official match in 19 months.

Haggerty, based near Philadelphia, worked with fellow Fox Rothschild litigation partner James Clark and associate Stephan Cornell in representing Sharapova in her year-long fight against doping allegations.