Maria Sharapova Opens Season With A Win At 2014 Brisbane International; Jelena Jankovic Also Advances

Maria Sharapova advances at 2014 Brisbane International (click to enlarge)

Admittedly, winning an opening round match at the 2014 Brisbane International isn’t a sign that Maria Sharapova is ready to get back to winning Majors, but the first step has to be taken to get to later steps. At the very least, it was good to see Masha back on the court in a real match easily defeating France’s Caroline Garcia 3 and love. It was also nice to see Jelena Jankovic back on court winning. Jeca was hot to end 2013, so it will be interesting to see if she brings that momentum into this season. She had a considerably harder time with Francesca Schiavone, winning in straight sets but needing a tiebreak to close the former Roland Garros champion out.

singles – First round
[9] DOMINIKA CIBULKOVA (SVK) D HEATHER WATSON (GBR)	\| 6 – 4 \| 6 – 3 \|
CASEY DELLACQUA (AUS) D GALINA VOSKOBOEVA (KAZ)	\| 3 – 6 \| 6 – 2 \| 6 – 3 \|
[4] JELENA JANKOVIC (SRB) D FRANCESCA SCHIAVONE (ITA)	\| 6 – 2 \| 7 – 6 (6) \|
ANASTASIA PAVLYUCHENKOVA (RUS) D ALLA KUDRYAVTSEVA (RUS)	\| 7 – 6 (4) \| 4 – 6 \| 6 – 3 \|
[5] ANGELIQUE KERBER (GER) D KRISTINA MLADENOVIC (FRA)	\| 6 – 2 \| 6 – 2 \|
[8] CARLA SUAREZ NAVARRO (ESP) D SU-WEI HSIEH (TPE)	\| 6 – 2 \| 6 – 1 \|
KAIA KANEPI (EST) D ALEXANDRA PANOVA (RUS)	\| 6 – 3 \| 6 – 7 (10) \| 6 – 2 \|
ASHLEIGH BARTY (AUS) D DANIELA HANTUCHOVA (SVK)	\| 6 – 3 \| 7 – 5 \|
[3] MARIA SHARAPOVA (RUS) D CAROLINE GARCIA (FRA)	\| 6 – 3 \| 6 – 0 \|