By Richard Pagliaro

Photo Credit: Zahed Khan

(March 13, 2010) INDIAN WELLS — A little more than a year ago, the baseline felt like a fault line for Maria Sharapova.

When Sharapova returned to the BNP Paribas Open last March to play a doubles match with Elena Vesnina it marked her first appearance on court after a nine-month layoff due to shoulder surgery.

"Crazy, crazy," Sharapova said in recalling that return. Uncertain about the stability of her shoulder than left Sharapova questioning the sanity of playing.

On a day in which former World No. 1 Justine Henin and Australian Open semifinalist Li Na were both bounced out of Indian Wells in three set losses, Sharapova was pushed to the edge of elimination before shoving her way back into the match.

Two points from her first opening-round exit from the event in seven years, Sharapova overcame 12 double faults in a posting a 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 victory over Vera Dushevina. Regaining her health has given Sharapova a lot less to worry about on court these days.

"Just being able to step on the line and not worrying if you're going to throw your shoulder out at any second, that helps a lot mentally when you're out there," Sharapova said.




Sharapova devoted the final 20 minutes of practice today working on her serve. She was consistently netting some serves trying to hit wide on the ad sice. Then coach Michael Joyce offered some advice. Mimicking Sharapova's habit of pausing slightly with her racket behind her as her toss reached its peak, Joyce said "that's what's giving you problems." When Sharapova sped up that sequence of her serve and hit up and out at the ball to eliminate the slight hitch, she began clearing the net more consistently.

Gone are the days when Sharapova could come out to practice and unload on her serve from the first ball. Now, she takes a much more methodical approaching to serving and finding the right rhythm can be a challenge.

"Sometimes if I take like five days off or something and I come out, you know, or I'll play like practice matches with guys and stuff and they come out and they warm up their serves and they're swinging away 120 miles per hour and I'm hitting like 50 mile serves to warm up, then I think to myself, I'm like, I don't think it will ever be the same, because I can't just go out there and hit a serve out of nowhere that I could have maybe when I was younger," Sharapova said. "So those are kind of the things that you monitor.  You don't play for a little bit, you go back out there, you know, and the first few days it's a little stiff.  You have to warm things up."

Fan interest in Sharapova was heating up today as she brought a bit of showtime to her practice session. Sharapova's boyfriend, LA Lakers guard Sasha Vujacic, joined her on court at the end of the practice. Sharapova and Joyce flipped their rackets and rallied by using the handles to hit the ball, a skill Jimmy Connors sometimes showcased during his days on the senior circuit when he would return an out serve using the handle of his Prince frame.



Dating a fellow professional athlete has both tested and strengthened Sharapova's heart.

"Let me just tell you the last couple weeks when he was out saved me a few heartbeats," Sharapova said with a laugh. "I just watch and I enjoy and, you know, I'm proud to know that there is someone else who comes home and works just as hard as I do    even harder    to be out there and to play.  It's inspiring as well."

The 10th-ranked Russian will have to draw on her motivation when she plays 18th-seeded Jie Zheng in the third round.

The 5-foot-4 1/2 Zheng has a pretty pedestrian serve, but backs it up with a consistent ground game and can handle pace effectively.

"She's a tough opponent; fights well, gets a lot of balls back, makes you hit, and is a perfect example of just having to be patient, and, you know, knowing that exactly the right time when you should go for it and things like that," Sharapova said. "I played her a few months ago in Hong Kong.  That was an exhibition.  That was our preparation for Australia, and it was a tough match.  We'll see."

Li Na's loss to British qualifier Elena Baltacha opens up the draw for the Sharapova-Zheng winner to reach the quarterfinals. In the aftermath of her opening-round Australian Open exit to  former doubles partner Maria Kirilenko, Sharapova says she's focusing on getting more match play this month.

"(My) No. 1 goal is to get the matches and matches like this, as well," Sharapova said after her comeback win over Dushevina. "I think this will only help me, and, you know, when I'm pushed and have to find a way to win. It's never easy when you're    maybe things are not going as you planned or you lose early a few times, and you have to, you know, find ways to get back out there.  There's no real secret.  It's just about going out there and doing it.  The more matches you play, the easier it becomes."