12 Jun 2009

Sharapova rolls on in Birmingham

8:04 am on 12 June 2009

The Russian tennis player Maria Sharapova has continued her build-up for Wimbledon by winning back-to-back matches at the Edgbaston Classic in Birmingham.

The former world number one was left stranded leading American Alexa Glatch 6-3 5-4 yesterday when rain washed out the rest of the day's play.

On resumption Sharapova, who is on a comeback trail following a nine-month layoff due to a shoulder injury, needed just one game to complete a 6-3 6-4 win.

The world number 73 was soon back on court to mete out more punishment. Italian seventh seed Francesca Schiavone offered little resistance before folding to a 6-1 6-3 defeat.

In other upsets, Hungarian Melinda Czink edged out Canadian third seed Aleksandra Wozniak 6-7 7-5 7-5, while India's Sania Mirza beat number five Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia 7-6 3-6 6-2.