Five-time grand slam champion Maria Sharapova has ended her three-and-a-half month absence from the tour with a 6-2, 7-6(3), win over Timea Bacsinszky in the first round of the Shenzhen Open.
Sharapova, who is seeded fifth in the tournament, ended her 2018 season early due to a shoulder injury. Nevertheless, the Russian looks to be back on track after producing a solid display against former French Open semi-finalist Bacsinszky. In total she hit 23 winners (18 more than her opponent) alongside 30 unforced errors.
“It was a difficult opponent, tough conditions for both of us.” Sharapova said afterwards. “It’s been a few months since I’ve been out playing competitively. So considering the opponent and everything I had to go through today, I thought it was a great practice for me.”
Bidding to win her first title in over a year, Sharapova encountered some stern resistance from her Swiss rival. After charging through the first set with the help of a four-game winning streak, the Russian found herself coming from behind in the second. Battling back from 0-2 and then 3-5 before taking the match into a tiebreaker. Much to the frustration of Bacsinszky.
Closing in on the win, it was the intensity of the Russian that helped her to cross the finish line. Hitting a series of deep shots towards the baseline to draw the errors from her rival, Sharapova opened up a 5-3 lead in the tiebreaker. A forehand winner then granted her match point, which she converted thanks for a Bacsinszky error.
“I think these are the type of matches you want to play ahead of the Australian Open. This (Shenzhen) is my only warm-up tournament and I will try my best to make the most of it.” She said.
Sharapova will next play Chinese wildcard Wang Xinyu, who is yet to break into their top 300.
Garcia, Wang stunned
In the bottom half of the draw, there are only one seed left in the section following a duo of shock wins at the tournament.
Second seed Caroline Garcia produced an error-stricken performance as she crashed out 6-4, 6-2, to Serbian qualifier Ivana Jorović. The world No.19 was far from her best as she dropped serve six times as hit 30 unforced errors to only 14 winners.
“I can’t believe what happened on the court today, I’m really happy.” Jorovic said afterwards.
“Caroline is an amazing player, but today I gave my best and I hope I can continue to play like this.”
The 21-year-old will next play tour veteran Vera Zvonareva, who dismissed Luksika Kumkhum in straight sets.
Another seed to go out was Wang Qiang, who was ranked third in the draw. The home favourite bowed out 6-3, 6-3, to two-time Shenzhen finalist Alison Riske.
Heading into the second round, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova is the only seed remaining in the bottom half.
