Stosur into second round at Mallorca Open

Samantha Stosur has joined fellow Australian Ajla Tomljanovic in the second round of the Mallorca Open while Maria Sharapova made a winning return from injury.

Samantha Stosur claimed a straight-sets win over China's Zheng Saisai to progress to the second round of the WTA Mallorca Open.

The 35-year-old Australian wildcard won 6-4 7-5 to set up a meeting with fourth-seeded Elise Mertens, joining compatriot Ajla Tomljanovic in the second round of the Spanish grass-court tournament.

Tomljanovic, who booked her progression on Monday with a straight-sets win over Monica Puig, is set to play second-seeded Anastasija Sevastova, who saw off qualifier Varvara Lepchenko earlier on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Maria Sharapova made a winning return from injury in the first round of the Mallorca Open.

The former world No.1 had not played since withdrawing ahead of a second-round match against Daria Gavrilova in St Petersburg at the start of February because of more problems with her right shoulder.

Sharapova looked understandably rusty in the first set against Slovakia's Viktoria Kuzmova but she came from a break down to win it on a tie-break before racing to a 7-6 (8) 6-0 victory.

It was the Russian's first win on grass since the quarter-finals of Wimbledon four years ago, and she said on wtatour.com: "It's always nice to get a victory.

"It's been a while since I've been out there, so it was good to put down a few things I've worked on, put the arms into action. There's still a lot to work on and improve, but I had to start somewhere."

In the second round, Sharapova will face top seed and Wimbledon champion Angelique Kerber, who defeated Ysaline Bonaventure 7-5 4-6 6-2.

Nottingham champion Caroline Garcia continued her winning run, beating former world No.1 Victoria Azarenka 1-6 6-4 7-5.

Second seed Anastasija Sevastova was a 6-3 7-6 (7-5) winner over Varvara Lepchenko while fifth seed Amanda Anisimova battled to a 3-6 7-6 (9-7) 6-4 victory against Tereza Martincova.


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Source: AAP


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Stosur into second round at Mallorca Open | SBS News