Maria Sharapova signaled her reemergence as a top player on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour with a thrilling 6-2, 1-6, 8-6 win over eleventh seed Nadia Petrova on Wednesday at Roland Garros.
Although Sharapova is still working to find her form after her injury layoff, her win over Petrova showed that she is emphatically back on track.
She kept her unforced error count down, hit seven aces and her trademark crosscourt forehand kept Petrova frustrated and on the run.
“She really showed, even though she has been out for a while, she’s willing to compete till the end,” Petrova said after the match. “I’m disappointed with me, because I just didn’t finish it off when I had everything in my hands.”
While Sharapova is not considered to be one of the Tour’s finest on clay, she ironically holds one of the best records of the tournament. Among this year’s main draw players, Sharapova entered Roland Garros with the best career win percentage on clay (55-15, .786).
