Sharapova Victorious in French Open

Wednesday, June 3, 2009 -- It was a tough climb for former world no.1 Maria Sharapova who was returning to her first Grand Slam after shoulder injuries that left her unable to play at the US Open and Australian Open. She managed to pull through, however, winning with a score of 6-2, 1-6, 8-6 over 11th seed Nadia Petrova, despite the rain and the cold weather, and despite the fact that her father was not in his usual place at the stands.

Sharapova, who was ranked number one, is now ranked at 102 although she is confident that she can pick herself up, starting with this win. She won the last five games of the first set, but faltered in the second set, losing the last five games of the set. She saved six break points in the final set to end the match with a forehand wide.

"She didn't give me any chance," remarked Petrova, who was twice a French Open semifinalist.
The same goes for Rafael Nadal who has made another tournament record with 30 straight matches.

Other winners include no. 3 Andrew Murray, no. 1 Dinara Safina, and Ana Ivanovic as well as Portuguese player Michelle Larcher de Brito after defeating Chinese player Zheng Jie.