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Maria Sharapova made a terrific return to tennis on Tuesday. The Russian superstar, who took a four and a half month hiatus due to injury, made a comeback at the Mallorca Open and defeated Viktoria Kuzmova in straight sets 7-6(8), 6-0.
This was the first meeting between the two players, with the Russian not only making her tournament debut but also coming back from a shoulder injury dating back to late January. With a bit of time to prepare for the grass season which historically has been successful for her, the 32-year-old hoped to get back into the groove as soon as possible - which she did.
Sharapova showed no troubles at the start as she scored a hold to love to open the match. She then got a break in the very next game, but that forced the 21-year -old to dial up the aggression and start playing better.
Kuzmova earned the break back and consolidated to even the set at two games apiece. They remained deadlocked through 10 games, with Kuzmova forcing Sharapova to raise her level.
The Slovakian forced Sharapova to deuce in the 11th game, and then found a way to get two break chances. She converted the second of those to take a 6-5 lead.
But the Russian wouldn't go away so easily, and immediately broke back to set up a tiebreak. It was there that the competition reached its highest point.
Kuzmova got an edge early with a break on the fourth point. Sharapova rallied to take two straight and level at three points each. From there on, they played 11 points staying neck and neck with each other.
The Russian eventually got the decisive mini-break to take the tiebreak 10-8 and clinch the set in one hour and four minutes. The two players combined for 10 double faults but apart from the serving issues, the shot-making was of very high quality.
When the second set got underway, it became clear that the Slovak was running low on energy. That led to an easy break for the Russian before she consolidated with a hold to love.
The second serve let Kuzmova down in the third game which again went to Sharapova, who then quickly ran away to a 4-0 lead.
Sharapova didn't relent and broke Kuzmova one more time before holding to finish the match in 1 hour and 31 minutes. “It’s my first victory on grass in many years and my first in three or four months,” Sharapova said after the match. “Mallorca has been a great place for a warm-up tournament and it’s nice to experience it for the first time.”
Sharapova has another stern test in the next round as she faces reigning Wimbledon champion Angelique Kerber.
