Sharapova gets off to a strong start

MELBOURNE, Australia — Maria Sharapova barely missed a beat in her first match back at the Australian Open since a failed doping test in 2016 resulted in a 15-month ban from tennis.

One of just two former champions in the women’s draw, Sharapova recovered from an early break in the second set and closed out her 6-1, 6-4 victory over Tatjana Maria with an ace Tuesday at Margaret Court Arena. She celebrated by twirling, waving and blowing kisses to the crowd.

“It’s been a couple of years since I’ve been back here — obviously I wanted to enjoy the moment,” the 2008 Australian Open champion and three-time runner-up said. “It was really meaningful for me to be out here.”

Sharapova was banned for after testing positive for the drug meldonium here in 2016, when she reached the quarterfinals, and finished last year ranked No. 60.

Sharapova, now ranked 48th, is one of two former Australian Open champions in the women’s field, alongside Angelique Kerber.

Kerber continued her resurgent run with a 6-0, 6-4 victory over fellow German Anna-Lena Friedsam.

Kerber, seeded 21st, opened 2018 by winning four singles matches at the Hopman Cup, where Germany lost the final to Switzerland, and won the Sydney International last week for her first title since the 2016 U.S. Open.

Kerber broke through two years ago in Australia, where she beat Serena Williams in the final, and then reached the Wimbledon final and won the U.S. Open in a year when she rose to No. 1. Her ranking slid into the 20s in 2017.

No. 9 Johanna Konta beat Madison Brengle 6-3, 6-1, handing the U.S. its 10th loss in 11 first-round women’s matches.

Konta will next meet Bernarda Pera, a qualifier who registered the second win by an American woman at the tournament when she beat qualifier Anna Blinkova 6-2, 6-2.

No. 20 Barbora Strycova’s 6-1, 7-5 win over wild card Kristie Ahn made it 2-12 for U.S. women.