Maria Sharapova Advances to Second Round at French Open

May 30, 09:06 AM

Current Headlines: By CHRIS LEHOURITES

PARIS (AP) - Maria Sharapova showed little sign of shoulder trouble Wednesday reaching the second round of the French Open by beating Emilie Loit of France 6-3, 7-6 (4).

The second-ranked Russian wasted seven break points in the first game of the match, but then converted both of her opportunities in the third and fifth games.

"My shoulder is still not where I want it to be. It's still not perfect," Sharapova said. "I don't think I've had a more serious injury."

Loit served for the second set at 6-5, but Sharapova earned her second break of the set to force the tiebreaker.

Svetlana Kuznetsova, the 2004 U.S. Open champion who is seeded third at Roland Garros, easily beat fellow Russian Ekaterina Bychkova 6-0, 6-3.

But another Russian, 2004 French Open champion Anastasia Myskina, again lost in the first round to American Meghann Shaughnessy 6-1, 6-0.

Myskina lost in the first round at Roland Garros a year after winning the title, and then reached the fourth round last year. She is 0-7 in tour events since August.

Shaughnessy had lost in the first round at the French Open in the last two years.

Marat Safin, a two-time Grand Slam champion, lost in the second round of the men's draw. The 22nd-seeded Russian fell to Serbia's Janko Tipsarevic 6-4, 6-4, 7-5.

Safin has not won consecutive matches since March.

No. 10 Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic lost in the first round, falling to Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain 7-5, 6-4, 6-4. No. 6 Novak Djokovic advanced.

Sharapova, a two-time Grand Slam champion who missed nearly two months of the season with a right shoulder injury, returned last week at a clay-court warmup tournament in Istanbul, where she was upset in the semifinals.

"Even without the serve I'm good enough to win many matches," said the 20-year-old Russian, who has never reached the semifinals at Roland Garros but has made the quarter-finals twice.

Loit, a 27-year-old veteran whose best showing at a major was a fourth-round appearance at the 1999 Australian Open, called for a trainer after the third game of the first set. She soon left the court and returned a few minutes later with her left thigh wrapped.

During the break, Sharapova practised her serves while wearing her warmup jacket as light rain began to fall.

Also, No. 7 Ana Ivanovic, No. 9 Anna Chakvetadze, No. 15 Shahar Peer, No. 17 Katarina Srebotnik, No. 21 Ai Sugiyama, No. 22 Alona Bondarenko and No. 24 Anabel Medina Garrigues won.

Top-ranked Justine Henin, Amelie Mauresmo and sisters Venus and Serena Williams were also to play Wednesday, while Roger Federer was scheduled to play on the men's side.