SAN DIEGO, July 28: Maria Sharapova, in her first match since winning Wimbledon earlier this month, powered past American qualifier Lilia Osterloh 6-3, 6-3 in the second round of the $1.3 million Acura Classic on Tuesday.
"I really feel this is where I belong," the 17-year-old Russian told reporters. "The competitive spirit comes back again. "I knew it wouldn't be easy and I just tried to be consistent. I think I did well for not playing for a while and coming off such a big win."
Top seed Serena Williams struggled to progress and needed more than two hours to down Jelena Jankovic of Serbia and Montenegro 6-7, 6-3, 6-2. Serena's sister, Venus, pulled out of the tournament earlier in the day with a sprained wrist.
Playing in front of a sellout crowd of 6,500, sixth seed Sharapova served well and returned aggressively but often failed to find her range with her big ground strokes.
Serena, beaten in Sunday's final at nearby Carson by Lindsay Davenport, was erratic against Jankovic, unable to control her ground strokes and doing little with her return of serve.
The two players received simultaneous medical timeouts with Williams leading 3-2 in the third set, Jankovic for a stiff back and Serena for blisters on her left foot. After a 10-minute break, Jankovic was unable to get her rhythm back while Williams played more consistently and ended the match with two booming aces.
French Open champion Anastasia Myskina, the third seed from Russia, advanced with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Austria's Barbara Schett. In the day's only upset, Russian Elena Likhovtseva put out compatriot and 10th seed Nadia Petrova 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 in a first-round tussle.
TUESDAY'S RESULTS (PREFIX NUMBER DENOTES SEEDING):
SECOND ROUND: 3-Anastasia Myskina (Russia) beat Barbara Schett (Austria) 6-3, 6-4; Amy Frazier (US) beat Ashley Harkleroad (US) 6-2, 6-0; Vera Zvonareva (Russia) brat Maria Sanchez Lorenzo (Spain) 6-0, 6-3; 1-Serena Williams (US) beat Jelena Jankovic (Serbia & Montenegro) 6-7 (3-7), 6-3, 6-2; 6-Maria Sharapova (Russia) beat Lilia Osterloh (US) 6-3, 6-3; 5-Elena Dementieva (Russia) beat Kristina Brandi (Puerto Rico) 6-1, 6-1.
PLAY CURTAILED
TORONTO: Steady day-long drizzle allowed only one set to be played at the $2.5 million Toronto Masters on Tuesday. World number one Roger Federer of Switzerland was leading Morocco's Hicham Arazi 6-3 when their match was suspended by light rain that left playing conditions too soggy to continue.
The poor weather caused the cancellation of the other 18 matches that were scheduled on the second day of the hard court tournament. American Andy Roddick, Guillermo Coria of Argentina, Spain's Carlos Moya and Tim Henman of Britain were among those who had matches postponed. Play was scheduled to start at 1100 local time but Federer and Arazi did not take to the court until 2010. -Agencies
