MOSCOW, January 14 (R-Sport) - Russia’s Maria Sharapova showed signs of rust as she disposed of American rival Bethanie Mattek-Sands 6-3, 6-4 Tuesday in the first round of the Australian Open.
As a result of recent injuries, it was only the Russian's sixth competitive match since June. Sharapova, the world No. 3, was broken twice on serve against Minnesota native Mattek-Sands, who is ranked 38 places lower.
"Looking at her results in the last, you know, couple of weeks and last year and the matches that I've played against her, I knew that it was going to be a tough match," Sharapova said on the tournament website.
"No matter what I had to do, I wanted to get through it, and I think that's what it was about today."
Sharapova landed five aces, one of them while serving for the match, a good sign for a player whose serve has often been hampered by shoulder problems such as the one that kept her out of action for most of last season.
The late-night timing of the match allowed the players to escape the extreme heat that has dogged the first two days of main-draw play in Melbourne.
"The conditions were tough for everyone. I think we got the least today, considering how late we played. But it was still pretty warm out there. Warm enough to have to use some ice vests," Sharapova said.
Sharapova's second-round opponent is Karin Knapp of Italy and a win would set up a potential third-round meeting with 25th seed Alize Cornet of France.
