Sharapova returns to U.S. Open

Maria Sharapova is back on the Grand Slam stage and in the public eye –where she enjoys it.  After missing last year’s U.S. Open with a shoulder injury, the 2006 champion made her comeback with a convincing 6-3, 6-0 thrashing of Bulgaria’s Tsvetana Pironkova.

The three-time Grand-Slam title-winner produced 29 winners — a whopping 23 more than her 98th-ranked opponent.  Sharapova’s game was particularly clean in the second set, when she hit 16 winners and only had five unforced errors.  She showed no signs of the shoulder tear that forced her to have surgery in October and kept her off the tour for nearly 10 months.

Sharapova, who is known for her trendy fashion in and out of the court, wore on her first match a black dress that carried bold, metallic accents with a matching headwrap, an outfit she described as a tribute to New York’s architecture.

[via yahoo.com]