BRISBANE: Maria Sharapova returned after four months out injured with a completely dominant 6-3 6-0 victory over France’s Caroline Garcia in the opening round of the Brisbane International on Monday.
The world number four showed no signs of the shoulder injury which has kept her off court since the Western and Southern Open in August as she raced into the second round in 64 minutes on Pat Rafter arena.
German fifth seed Angelique Kerber, the beaten finallist at Wimbledon this year, also beat a French 20-year-old in her first match, seeing off Kristina Mladenovic 6-2, 6-2.
Former world number one Jelena Jankovic earlier beat former French Open champion Francesca Schiavone 6-2, 7-6 (6) to take her place in the second round.
In the men’s draw, Croatian Marin Cilic came from behind to beat Uzbek Denis Istomin 6-7 (3), 7-6 (5), 6-4 and American Sam Querrey upset Russian seventh seed Dmitry Tursunov 7-5, 6-4.
Finn Jarkko Nieminen earlier thrashed local James Duckworth 6-2, 6-3 to earn the dubious pleasure of a second round meeting with top seed Roger Federer. (Reuters)
