Former champion Maria Sharapova made a stuttering start before beating stubborn qualifier Viktoriya Kutuzova in the first round of the Wimbledon ladies singles.

Sharapova, who triumphed at the All England Club in 2004 when aged just 17, is clearly still not back to her best following shoulder surgery that kept her out of the game for nine months until March.

It showed on Court 1 as the 24-year-old Russian trailed 4-1 and 5-3 in the first set before rattling off a streak of four games witho...

Former Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova eased to a straight-sets victory over Stephanie Dubois on the opening day of the AEGON Classic in Birmingham.

The 22-year-old, a two-time winner at the Edgbaston Priory Club, had only a minor blip in the first set before dispatching the Canadian 6-4 6-2 as her improving form on her comeback from injury continued.

Sharapova, a quarter-finalist at the French Open, raced into a 4-1 lead with two breaks but was pegged back to 4-3 after losing her serve in the sixth game.

Former AEGON Classic and Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova returned to the scene of her first major breakthrough today as she begins her preparations for the AEGON Classic, at the Edgbaston Priory Club, Birmingham which begins on Monday.

It was five years ago that Sharapova, then aged only 17, arrived in Birmingham as a fledgling member of the top twenty. In the space of three weeks, she claimed her first grass court title here, before going on to her historical triumph at Wimbledon.

"I'm looking forward to playing on grass again. The AEGON Classic is a good opportunity for me to get practising ahead of Wimbledon. I have some really amazing memories of being here in Birmingham. When you play at some stadiums which have so many people, it's nice to come and play at a venue like this which is really intimate. The people here have really seen me grow up and I'm very happy to be back.

MARIASHARAPOVA

THE MODERATOR: Questions in English, please.

You looked very tired, but you fight until the last ball. Can you explain what you feel, how you feelnow.

MARIA SHARAPOVA:
Um, it took me a while, obviously, to startgoing for my shots and create, you know, good opportunities to come to the netand finish the point off, you know, closer to the court.

Yeah, it just ‑‑you know, I guess you could only ask your body to do so much. You know, everything fell a little shorttoday. The pace wasn't there on mystrokes, and, you know, I was five steps slower today.

I think everything kind of combines. The fact that, you know, she just playedreally solid and made me hit a lot of balls, and I came up short today.

Maria lost 0-6, 2-6 to Dominika Cibulkova. More to come later