Sharapova opened the Paris fortnight by losing only three games to Anastasiya Yakimova of Belarus in a straight-set victory, and then followed that up on Wednesday by knocking out No. 11 seed Nadia Petrova of Russia, 6-2, 1-6, 8-6.
Likely the biggest positive Sharapova can take from the match is how impressively she performed on break point conversions, which are always crucial to winning. Sharapova converted on 60 percent (6 of 10) of her break point conversions, compared to Petrova’s 38 percent (5 of 13).
Sharapova served big when she needed to, especially in the third set when she was down a break point. In that deciding set, she trailed 4-2 when she broke Petrova to get back on serve at 4-4, and then saved two break points to take a 5-4 lead. She saved another break point while serving at 6-6
She also returned big when most needed. I forgot how good her return was until I witnessed it against Petrova. She just goes after returns, she sends them back in a hard and punishing manor, and that applies so much pressure on her opponents, especially if she is returning a second serve.
The unseeded Sharapova is playing her first major since last summer’s Wimbledon. And even though she had her right shoulder taped, she gave no indication she was favoring the shoulder. Her service motion is abbreviated. It doesn’t go all the way down near her knee at the start, so that’s something that’s different, but the fact that the pace on her serve was up is a positive, and it contributed to her exceeding my expectations after her being sidelined for nine months.
