Maria Sharapova through to round two of Stanford Classic

Maria Sharapova made a winning return to action, following injury, by beating American Jennifer Brady in the opening round of the Bank of the West Classic in California.

The 30-year-old was on court for two hours and four minutes in beating the world No 80 6-1 4-6 6-0.

In all, the Russian broke Brady's serve nine times although the final set was not quite as one-sided as it appeared.

Four games went to deuce and Brady missed three chances to break serve herself.

The match was Sharapova's first in competition since suffering a hip injury in May, having only made her comeback from a 15-month absence following a doping suspension in April.

It was also her first match on American soil since March 2015 and she thanked the crowd for their support: "I feel like I just want to hug everyone and say 'thank you'.

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"It's my first match in the States in a really long time, and it's the closest thing to home for me."

The five-time grand slam winner needed a wild card to compete and she added: "I feel like I'm playing catch-up against everyone who's had a head start.

"But all that matters is that I keep playing."

Sharapova has also accepted a wild card into the WTA Tour event in Cincinnati, and her next opponent this week in Stanford will be the No 7 seed Lesia Tsurenko of Ukraine, who beat Spaniard Lara Arruabarrena Vecino 6-3 6-3.

The top seed is recently-crowned Wimbledon champion Garbine Muguruza, who opens her account against American Kayla Day.

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