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The Russian veteran beat Bulgarian qualifier
Sesil Karatantcheva 6-1, 6-2 on Tuesday in Montreal. The match
had been suspended Monday due to rain and lightning with
Sharapova ahead 4-1 in the first set.
"After getting a good, quick start, maybe the (rain) delay
wasn't exactly in my favor coming out on the court and having to
wait for a long time," Sharapova said. "I would have loved to
finish last night to get a break today, but that's not how
things work. You have to adjust. I think I did a good job of
finishing the job today."
The match lasted just 83 minutes. Karatantcheva contributed to
her demise by double-faulting 11 times without serving an ace.
Sharapova converted four of her 11 break points without ever
facing a break point on her own serve.
"I was aggressive, I served well throughout the match,"
Sharapova said. "I think I did everything a little bit better,
especially toward the end of the match. I haven't played in a
few weeks. No matter what tournament or who you're playing
against, you have to figure things out as you go. I think I did
a good job of that today."
Next up for Sharapova is a matchup with 12th-seeded Daria
Kasatkina of Russia, who beat Greece's Maria Sakkari 6-4, 4-6,
6-1.
Two seeded players dropped their opening-round matches Tuesday.
Great Britain's Johanna Konta eliminated 11th-seeded Jelena
Ostapenko of Latvia 6-7 (6), 6-1, 6-2, and Spain's Carla Suarez
Navarro upset 16th-seeded Naomi Osaka of Japan 7-6 (2), 6-2.
"I played myself into the match and tried to be as tough as
possible," said Konta, who routed Serena Williams 6-1, 6-0 last
week in San Jose, Calif. "(Ostapenko) has such a big game, so
many big shots, sometimes you are spectator out there. When I
had the opportunity to do the most I could, stay strong, I think
I built up enough momentum. That's why I was able to keep
pushing through in the second and third."
Other first-round winners included eighth-seeded Petra Kvitova
of the Czech Republic, 10th-seeded Julia Goerges of Germany,
14th-seeded Elise Mertens of Belgium and 15th-seeded Ashleigh
Barty of Australia.
Sixth-seeded Caroline Garcia of France also advanced with a 4-6,
6-1, 6-3 win over Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia.
Mihaela Buzarnescu of Romania, who captured the San Jose
championship for her first career WTA title, beat China's Qiang
Wang 6-2, 7-5.
--Field Level Media
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