After defeating Jie Zheng 6-4, 7-5 in the first round of Stanford, Maria Sharapova says she has been able to return to her old service motion as her shoulder recovers.
"I knew eventually I would go back, I just didn’t quite know when,” said Sharapova, who underwent shoulder surgery in October 2008. “But I knew that if I was going to come back when I did last year, I had to start with an abbreviated motion.
"It was just really inconvenient... Apart from the serve, I really felt like the shoulder was feeling really good on all the other parts of my game. Even my backhand volley, which I really couldn’t hit with the shoulder, was getting a lot better.
"I'm just trying to work myself toward the U.S. Open," she added. "I'm just happy to be back playing."