Sharapova wins in Open return while Safina struggles
Maria Sharapova made a triumphant return to the US Open, moving
closer to an early showdown with Elena Dementieva, while world number
one Dinara Safina struggled into the second round on Tuesday.
Sharapova, the 2006 US Open winner, missed last year's Flushing
Meadows fortnight with a right shoulder injury but the Russian beauty
was welcomed back with huge cheers in a 6-3, 6-0 win over Bulgaria's
Tsvetana Pironkova.
"It's amazing," she said. "Being out almost a whole year, it's all
worth it when you step on the court, you hear all the cheering and feel
the atmosphere. You forget what you are doing it all for but when you
feel this you remember."
Safina barely escaped becoming the first US Open women's top seed to
lose in the first round, battling back from a break and two break-points
down in the third set to edge Australian teen Olivia Rogowska 6-7 (5/7),
6-2, 6-4.
"God knows how I pulled it out," Safina said. "Worse it cannot be.
From now on it can only get better."
Fourth seed Dementieva, who could meet Sharapova in the third round
as she bids for her first Slam crown, beat French qualifier Camille Pin
6-1, 6-2 to reach a second-round match with American teenager Melanie
Oudin.
"It was a good start," Dementieva said. "I was pretty aggressive. I
was glad I was able to stay all the way and not lose my concentration."
French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova also won to complete the sweep
of opening matches by Russian seeds while Serbian fifth seed Jelena
Jankovic, last year's US Open runner-up, beat Italy's Roberta Vinci 6-2,
6-3 in her opener.
But the star was former world number one Sharapova, booking a
second-round date with US wild card Christina McHale in only 73 minutes.
"I had a little bit of a slow start but once I got going I did a good
job of maintaining," Sharapova said. "It was just about adjusting as
fast as I could. I was able to get into the groove of it and get it done
in two."
Together with Belgian Kim Clijsters, who took a two-year break to
start a family, the draw has a pair of former US Open champions and
world number ones making compelling comebacks.
"Comebacks are great for the sport," Sharapova said. "We're both
still very young. It creates excitement and buzz, considering we're
contenders. We've won Grand Slams. We're big competitors. We love the
big stage." Safina, who next faces Germany's 67th-ranked Kristina
Barrois, took two hours and 35 minutes to dispatch 167th-ranked wildcard
Rogowska, who would have been the second-lowest woman in rankings to
ever beat a top seed in a Slam.
"If I would lose that match, it would be like I lost to myself. It
was me, myself and I playing on the court," Safina said. "It would hurt
a lot."
The worst showing by a US Open top seed came last year when Ana
Ivanovic lost in the second round. The Serbian made an earlier exit this
year, the 11th seed dropping her opener to Ukraine's Kateryna Bondarenko
2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (9/7).
NEW YORK, Wednesday AFP
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