PARIS—The two most important shots in women's tennis are the return and the baseline groundstroke. So Mirjana Lucic found herself in a deep hole today against Maria Sharapova when she forgot how to put either shot into the court.
Sharapova won a match of decidedly modest quality, 6-3 6-0. The early part of the first-rounder was a contest: Lucic saved a break point in her first service game and looked like a good test for the No. 7 seed, as the play continued on serve through the first five games.
In the sixth game, the point sequence (with Sharapova on serve) went like this: return error, return error, double-fault, double-fault, return error, return error. That seemed to flick a switch in Lucic: for the next nine games, she completely lost the ability to sustain rallies or make any service returns that put her opponent under pressure.
Sharapova is already a veteran at 24, and give her credit—she's always had a keen sense of when an opponent's nerve is wobbling. A blistered forehand return at 15-40 won the first set, and from then on it was one-way traffic. Lucic won just four points in the second set and never took Sharapova to deuce. The Croatian finished the match with five winners and 24 unforced errors, and I think the scorers were generous on the UE count.
Sharapova comes to the French Open with the wind in her sails after a victory in Rome. Her opponent's fragility meant this wasn't much of a test, and a few clean returns and forehands aside, she impressed today more from her ability to maintain focus than her movement or variety. Her next opponents are unlikely to be as accommodating as Ms. Lucic.
—Andrew Burton