Sharapova into round two

Maria Sharapova's injury comeback continued with a three-set victory over Ai Sugiyama in the first round of the Stanford Classic.

Former world number one continues to find form after lay-off

Maria Sharapova's injury comeback continued with a three-set 6-4 6-7 6-1 victory over Ai Sugiyama in the first round of the Stanford Classic on Monday. Recovering slowly after shoulder surgery last year, the three-time grand slam-winning Russian conceded she needs more matches to get her form back. "I had so many chances to close out the match and I didn't," said Sharapova, currently ranked 62nd in the world. "I couldn't raise my level when had to. "But in the third set I didn't do anything wrong, I was steady and kept doing the right things." Sharapova looked comfortable in winning the opening set but then squandered a 5-2 lead in the second. She was unable to cash in on two match points leading 6-4 in the tiebreaker, double faulting and committing a backhand error. Japan's Sugiyama went ahead with a backhand winner and then took the tiebreaker 8-6 after Sharapova netted a backhand. However, the former world number one produced a fine array of groundstrokes and returns to turn the match around in the deciding set. Meanwhile, Anne Keothavong suffered a first-round loss, the British number one going down 6-1 6-4 to Russia's Elena Dementieva. Seventh seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland also reached the second round with a 6-0 6-1 demolition of Romania's Sorana Cirstea.