Trailing through most of the third set in her toughest test since shoulder surgery, Sharapova pulled out a 6-2, 1-6, 8-6 victory over 11th-seeded Nadia Petrova on Wednesday to reach the third round at Roland Garros, her return to Grand Slam tennis.

"I kind of started stumbling away. Things went in the wrong direction," said Sharapova, who missed the U.S. Open and Australian Open. "I was just glad I could pick myself up and keep fighting."

That she did: Five times, Petrova was one point away from serving for the match. But Sharapova didn't allow her to convert those chances.

"She really showed, even though she has been out for a while, she's willing to compete till the end," Petrova said.

Maria Sharapova's bandaged right shoulder held up despite a shaky start, sending her into the second round of the French Open with a 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 win over Anastasiya Yakimova of Belarus in almost two hours.

The unseeded Russian was broken three times in the first set of Monday's match, but she opened the second with four straight wins before being broken once again. Before the start of the next game, Yakimova called for a trainer to work on her lower back.

Sharapova made her season debu...

The draw for the 2nd Grand Slam of the year at Roland Garros has been released and Maria is unseeded and will play Anastasiya Yakimova of Belarus in the 1st round.  Maria has never played her before. 
Because Maria is unseeded, she could face the #11 seed Nadia Petrova of Russia in the second round.
Maria has played Roland Garros every year since 2003 and her best performance was reaching the semis in 2007.  Last year Maria reached the 4th round and since 2004 has never lost before that round.

Maria Sharapova's comeback from injury came to an abrupt halt when she was beaten 6-2, 6-2 by Ukraine's Alona Bondarenko in the quarter-finals of the claycourt Warsaw Open.
The 22-year-old Russian is back in action after nine and a half months out with a shoulder problem, but having advanced through the first two rounds she found no answer to eighth seed Bondarenko's speed and superior movement.

Maria Sharapova eased past Darya Kustova of Belarus 6-2, 6-0 on Wednesday to reach the third round of the Warsaw Open, her first singles tournament since coming back from shoulder surgery.

The three-time Grand Slam title winner needed only 57 minutes to eliminate Kustova. "I played a solid game and did everything that I had to do in order to win today," Sharapova said. "More importantly right now than ever, is just to do the right things and to work on my game. It doesn't really matter who I'm playing."