Maria Sharapova piled on the first seven games before Shahar Peer could find her feet but then had to struggle to finally scrape a 6-0, 4-6, 6-2 win Thursday in her opening match at the China Open.
Wary of the upset loss of holder Serena Williams the previous evening, with the slumping American going down to the number 127 Chinese player Sun Tiantian, Russia’s top seed looked like taking no early chances.
Sharapova lifted the first five games against her fellow 18-year-old ranked 48th, in just 18 minutes.
But the next game became a brief struggle, going through five deuces as Peer saved four Sharapova set points before losing from her opponent’s forehand stinger down the line.
Peer drew applause from a modest crowd at the Beijing tennis centre as she won her first game for 1-1 in the second, and broke the top seed three times to square at a set each.
But with upset alarms no doubt starting to go off, 2004 Wimbledon champion Sharapova — despite striking 21 unforced errors — put the brakes on the Israeli’s upset bid to advance into the quarterfinals.
The Russian’s narrow escape took a shade off two hours, with 26 winners to her credit.
Sharapova, a semifinalist at last year’s inaugural edition, will on Friday play against Japan’s Shinobu Asagoe, who beat American Jill Craybas 6-2, 6-4.
Russia’s Maria Kirilenko will provide a marker for China’s Sun, who will hope not to fall to earth after her crushing of Williams.
Kirilenko booked her place in the last eight through a defeat of Japan’s Aiko Nakamura 6-1, 7-6 (7-3).
In later matches, third seed Venus Williams will aim to save family pride when she opens in her Beijing debut against Nuria Llagostera Vives of Spain.
Pole Marta Domachowska takes on China’s Zheng Jie.
Against Sharapova, Peer showed the promise she exhibited by winning the junior singles title at the 2004 Australian Open, a year before making her WTA debut last February as a qualifier in India.
The Israeli has since reached five quarterfinals and moved from 145th in the standings since the start of the year.
Sharapova is unlikely to have serious immediate competition for her new world number one status, with rival Lindsay Davenport reportedly not playing in the autumn due to back pains which forced her Beijing withdrawal.
The Florida-based Russian improved her 2005 record to 49-8 as she took a step in a bid for her 11th career title. – AFP
