PARIS (AP) With Tiffany earrings dangling from her lobes and her best tennis in years flowing from her racket, Maria Sharapova looked as if she's ready to once again challenge for a Grand Slam title.
The three-time major champion had little trouble beating Mirjana Lucic of Croatia 6-3, 6-0 on Tuesday, winning the final nine games to reach the second round of the French Open. But it wasn't only her serve or groundstrokes that made an impression on center court.
I wear Tiffany earrings at Grand Slams,'' Sharapova said of the drop earrings with circles of rose-cut diamonds of various sizes set in platinum.Unfortunately, I have to give them back after the tournament. I would prefer to keep them as I think these are one of my favorite pairs I've worn.
``But, yeah, I might keep them for a couple of tournaments.''
Titles at Wimbledon, the U.S. Open and the Australian Open put her at the top of the game until injuries and shoulder surgery slowed her.
Now, she's moved back into the top 10 at No. 8 and quickly made her way past Lucic on Tuesday. She never faced a break point on Court Philippe Chatrier.
It was a tough beginning because she started off serving really big, and I didn't get too many looks on second serves,'' Sharapova said.Once I got a good rhythm, I felt like I started playing better and better.''
Lucic is a 1999 Wimbledon semifinalist, but the 29-year-old Croat fell out of the tennis elite long ago. And against Sharapova, she just didn't have her best game.
She was playing well. She was making balls,'' Lucic said.I couldn't get a hold of my return and I just started missing, and the more I started missing the more I went down.''
Sharapova will face French qualifier Caroline Garcia. But for a player like Sharapova, the questions aren't always about the quality of her next opponent.
``These have a lot more diamonds in them,'' Sharapova said of her French Open earrings, comparing them to the ones she wore at the U.S. Open.