Phew - that's a relief: Maria Sharapova is safely through to the second round of the Australian Open.
It is not that the former world No.1 and winner of three Grand Slam titles does not deserve to be in the second round, nor that anyone should be surprised that one so talented should win her opening match, it is just that Sharapova has not had the best of luck around Melbourne Park over the years. In 2008, she won the title here; in 2009 she could not defend the trophy thanks to a shoulder injury and then last year, still coming back from that injury, she was walloped by Maria Kirilenko in the first round.
With that in mind and with her nerves jangling for all to see, Sharapova shrieked her way past the veteran Tamarine Tanasugarn 6-1, 6-3 and lives to fight another day.
"Last year I played first match on centre and I lost," she said. "So I was like, I don't want this to happen again this year. The first game definitely wasn't great, and I didn't serve good at all during the match. But, you know, otherwise she was close to being 4‑1 in the second set, and I was able to win 6‑1, 6‑3. So that's the positive within my game. I started playing better as the match went on. And I can only improve in the second one."
She wasn't kidding: it was not the best performance of her career, not by any means, but it was more than enough to deal with Tanasugarn. The Thai has made a career out of being the human backboard, retrieving everything and refusing to give up on any point, however heavily the odds were stacked against her. But now, at the age of 33 and with injury concerns of her own, she is not quite the foe she once was.
Sharapova, on the other hand, is desperately trying to turn herself into the champion she used to be. In order to achieve her goal, she has parted company with Michael Joyce, the coach and friend who has guided her for the past six years. In his place stands Thomas Hogstedt from Sweden who, until recently, was coach to Li Na and Tommy Haas (not at the same time, you understand). Whether he can find the secret formula to restore Shazza to her former glories remains to be seen but with the first round safely completed, it is a case of so far, so good.
"I've worked with Thomas since the middle of November," Sharapova explained. "It's been going really well. I like the work ethic that he's brought on the court. I'm happy so far, but you never know where things will take you. So far everything is great. Michael and I worked for six years together. After a really long period of time, I think a few things become a routine. I think from both of our perspectives it was really a good move to bring in a new voice, a fresh perspective into the team. Michael is like a brother to me. We talk all the time. Obviously it's different not having him at a tournament after so many years but it's part of an athlete's career."
It was unusual to see Sharapova so nervous as the match began. Normally able to screen out any form of distraction (she barely batted an eyelid when a streaker interrupted her quarterfinal at Wimbledon 2006), she simply could not shake the memory of last year's loss from her mind. Two double faults and two errors handed the opening break of serve to the Thai but Tanasugarn's lead was fleeting. However poorly she is serving - and she racked up 10 double faults - the champion in Sharapova refuses to be beaten. As she cranked up the shriek (always a sign that she means business), Tanasugarn was toast.
For those of a fashionable persuasion, there is a full description of Sharapova's outfit elsewhere on this site, one provided by a scribe far more qualified than this scruffy hack. Suffice to say that the No.14 seed was draped expensively in a grey frock with a splash of orange across her frontage. And very stylish she looked, too.
Tanasugarn had gone for a bright and jolly outfit - very appropriate for the Australian summer - accesorising her ensemble with matching bandages on the right ankle and elbow. But, pretty in pink, she was still no match for Queen Shazza and was, quite simply, outclassed in every department.
By the time the Russian had started leathering her returns and thwacking her forehands, poor Tanasugarn had the glum and resigned look of a woman who knew that she was only there to make up the numbers. She could run but she could not hide and eventually, after 79 minutes, she was allowed to retire to the safety of the locker room.
The only real concern for Sharapova-watchers is that shoulder. After two years spent trying to repair the ailing joint, she appears, finally, to have recovered and yet now she seems to have put all that hard work at risk by getting engaged. Last October, Sasha Vujacic, the basketball player formerly of the LA Lakers and now with the New Jersey Nets, popped the question and Shazza said yes. Now she is sporting an engagement ring that is only marginally smaller than Tasmania - and surely lugging that weight around cannot be good for a lass with dodgy shoulders?
Photo Courtesy WTA
It began with some loud tennis fans shouting out the names of the shots sixth-seeded Italian Francesca Schiavone hit during her warm-up - the noise-makers weren't always correct - and ended with the reigning French Open champion prevailing over Spain's Arantxa Parra Santonja, 6-7 6-2 6-4.
