| GEO Sports | | Sharapova makes comeback with victory | Updated at: 1116 PST, Tuesday, May 19, 2009
 WARSAW: Maria Sharapova returned to action after a nine-and-a-half-month injury lay-off with a hard-fought win over Tathiana Garbin at the Warsaw Open.
The 22-year-old Russian, who has fallen from world number one to 126 during her absence from the sport, showed plenty of grit in the first-round tie on clay.
And she showed few signs of her shoulder injury as she beat the Italian Garbin 6-1 6-7 (6-8) 6-3.
Sharapova will hope to stay fit ahead of the French Open, starting on 24 May.
Britain's Anne Keovathong, meanwhile, also opened with a victory to continue her recent resurgence in the women's game, beating American seventh seed Bethanie Mattek-Sands 6-2 7-6 (7-4).
|  |
|
