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Stosur into second round at Mallorca Open

Samantha Stosur has joined fellow Australian Ajla Tomljanovic in the second round of the Mallorca Open while Maria Sharapova made a winning return from injury.

Samantha Stosur claimed a straight-sets win over China's Zheng Saisai to progress to the second round of the WTA Mallorca Open.

The 35-year-old Australian wildcard won 6-4 7-5 to set up a meeting with fourth-seeded Elise Mertens, joining compatriot Ajla Tomljanovic in the second round of the Spanish grass-court tournament.

Tomljanovic, who booked her progression on Monday with a straight-sets win over Monica Puig, is set to play second-seeded Anastasija Sevastova, who saw off qualifier Varvara Lepchenko earlier on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Maria Sharapova made a winning return from injury in the first round of the Mallorca Open.

The former world No.1 had not played since withdrawing ahead of a second-round match against Daria Gavrilova in St Petersburg at the start of February because of more problems with her right shoulder.

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Sharapova looked understandably rusty in the first set against Slovakia's Viktoria Kuzmova but she came from a break down to win it on a tie-break before racing to a 7-6 (8) 6-0 victory.

It was the Russian's first win on grass since the quarter-finals of Wimbledon four years ago, and she said on wtatour.com: "It's always nice to get a victory.

"It's been a while since I've been out there, so it was good to put down a few things I've worked on, put the arms into action. There's still a lot to work on and improve, but I had to start somewhere."

In the second round, Sharapova will face top seed and Wimbledon champion Angelique Kerber, who defeated Ysaline Bonaventure 7-5 4-6 6-2.

Nottingham champion Caroline Garcia continued her winning run, beating former world No.1 Victoria Azarenka 1-6 6-4 7-5.

Second seed Anastasija Sevastova was a 6-3 7-6 (7-5) winner over Varvara Lepchenko while fifth seed Amanda Anisimova battled to a 3-6 7-6 (9-7) 6-4 victory against Tereza Martincova.


2 min read

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Source: AAP



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