Sharapova sparkles on Amelia Island debut

BEIJING, April 10 -- Top-seeded Maria Sharapova made a successful debut at the Bausch & Lomb Championships with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Barbora Zahlavova Strycova of the Czech Republic at Amelia Island, Florida, on Tuesday.

"Coming into the match, you really don't know what to expect because your opponent has already had a few matches on clay, and this is your first match," Sharapova said. "So the most important thing today was just to try to get used to the atmosphere and the court and the opponent."

Lindsay Davenport began her quest for a fourth Bausch & Lomb title with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Vania King, overcoming a lack of sleep caused by her nine-month-old son's nagging cold.

Olga Govortsova pulled off a 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 upset of No. 4 Marion Bartoli of France, who continued her struggles at Amelia Island Plantation. She is 0-4 on the green clay and the only seeded player to lose in the first two days of the tournament.

Hungarian No. 8 Agnes Szavay, No. 13 Virginie Razzano of France and No. 15 Spaniard Anabel Medina Garrigues won second-round matches. No. 10 Alona Bondarenko, No. and 12 Katarina Srebotnik were first-round winners.

Sharapova, who ran her 2008 record to 19-1, is playing this week to get an early start on her preparation for the French Open.

She forced Zahlavova Strycova into fits during the 70-minute match. The Czech qualifier threw her racket and slammed it against her shoe and the ground, yelled at herself and even yapped to the chair umpire.

Sharapova stayed cool on the other end and was only broken once on her serve.

"I started well and got a good advantage in the first set," Sharapova said. "There were obviously a lot of things that hopefully I will be improving from this match, but it was a good start."

Davenport played on clay for the first time since the 2005 French Open, but showed little rust.

Davenport next plays Jill Craybas in the second round, while Sharapova gets Medina Garrigues in the third.

(Source: Shanghai Daily/Agencies)