Maria Sharapova performed as expected, with the top seed making a winning start on her debut in Mexico at the Abierto Mexicano TELCEL.
The No. 2 opened play with a 6-4, 6-1 defeat of American WTA Rising Star Shelby Rogers after losing serve in the opening game but storming back against the youngster after an hour and a quarter. Sharapova finished the match particularly strong – she won the last seven points in a row.
Rogers, one of the four players who made it to the WTA Rising Stars Invitational in Singapore last year, came out swinging, breaking in the first game of the match and, after holding serve in the next game, even getting to double break point in Sharapova’s next service game, on the verge of a 3-0 lead.
