MARIA Sharapova said she had a better perspective on her career after returning to Grand Slam tennis with a win over Belarus Anastasiya Yakimova in the French Open first round.

The Russian former world No. 1 was playing in her first Grand Slam match since a second-round loss to compatriot Alla Kudryatseva at last year's Wimbledon before spending almost 10 months on the sidelines with a shoulder injury.

'I started pretty lousy and even though I was up a break, I wasn't doing the right things and I was letting her play well,' Sharapova said after fighting back from a set down to win 3-6, 6-1, 6-2.

'I was playing sloppy but I turned it around. I started playing better and more aggressively.'

Reflective

Asked what she had learnt during her lengthy lay-off from the sport, she replied that she had become more reflective.

'For the first time in my life I couldn't practise for such a long period of time, three months or something,' she said.

'Everything about it was bizarre, like something had been taken away from your life. After going through this long process I think I'll treat losses less emotionally. I'll have more perspective on those things.

'Tennis and my career drive everything - myself, my business, everything I do - and you realise that.

'You miss it and you want to be out there. From the hour you're in the locker room, and you're putting your dress on, to the 15 minutes before the match when you're pumping yourself up to play in front of 20,000 people. I missed it.'

Sharapova also said that, were it not for her famed battling spirit, she might never have returned to competitive action.

'If I was a mentally weak individual, I think I wouldn't be here today,' she said.

'I'd be on some island, with a nice, cold pina colada and a nice, cold towel by the pool. But I love being here.'

Sharapova, a three-time Grand Slam winner, made a shaky start against Yakimova, double-faulting at break point in her first service game and then conceding another break after rallying to lead 3-2.

The 22-year-old, wearing a blue dress and sporting strapping on her right shoulder, displayed flashes of her characteristically uncompromising groundstrokes but struggled to find any consistency with her serve.

An over-cooked cross-court backhand from the Russian handed Yakimova another break and a 5-3 lead, with the world No. 64 Belarusian tying up the first set when her opponent scooped a tired backhand into the net.

Sharapova responded assertively in the second set, breaking twice to race into a 4-0 lead and levelling the match after Yakimova had called for a medical time-out to receive treatment for a back problem.

The Sharapova radar was slightly off-kilter and she earned the ire of the French crowd for questioning a couple of third-set line calls before eventually securing victory to set up a meeting with compatriot and No. 11 seed Nadia Petrova.

AFP

What's gone

WOMEN'S FIRST ROUND

Jelena Jankovic (x5) bt Petra Cetkovska 6-2, 6-3

Svetlana Kuznetsova(x7) bt Claire Feuerstein 6-1, 6-4

Alexa Glatch bt Flavia Pennetta (x14) 6-1, 6-1

Agnieszka Radwanska (x12) bt Rossana De Los Rios 6-3, 6-1

Kateryna Bondarenko bt Patty Schnyder (x17) 6-4 6-3

Marion Bartoli (x13) bt Pauline Parmentier 3-6, 6-1, 6-3