Maria started her Wimbledon campaign with a win as she defeated Anastasia Pivovarova 6-1 6-0 on Court 2. Maria needed only 54 minutes to defeat the Russian lucky loser.
Maria was never in trouble throughout the match against an opponent who was playing only their 2nd tournament on grass.
The only game Maria dropped was when Pivovarova held her serve in the 6th game of the first set. Maria was serving well throughout the match and won 94% of points on 1st serve and 65% on 2nd serve. Maria also had an impressive 72% of points won at net.
There is a feeling among the experts that Maria Sharapova is once again approaching the kind of form that makes her a contender at Grand Slam events and judging by her tennis during her opening victory at the 2010 Championships she can look forward to a lengthy stay in SW19.
Sharapova expected a tougher test against a player who had enjoyed a fabulous run at Roland Garros - she qualified and reached the third round. Pivovarova had impressed too during the qualifying event in Roehampton last week where she cruised through three matches for the loss of just ten games.
Sharapova also revealed that her time away from the game during 2008 and 2009 due to shoulder problems has left her even hungrier for success on the world's biggest stages. "My joy in the game is pretty much up there with what it was before I got injured. Maybe even more so because it was taken away from me for such a long period of time that it made me realise how blessed you are when you're actually on the court [and] are able to hit a tennis ball for an hour a day - and be good at what you do."
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