Maria though in though match

Maria is through to the 2nd round at the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo as she defeated Francesca Schiavone of Italy.  Maria won 4-6 7-5 6-1 in 2 hours and 22 minutes.

Maria was down 4-6 2-4 but from that point on only dropped 2 more games as she booked her place in the 2nd round. 

After the win Maria said: "I did a great job of hanging in there.  I was a down a break in the second set. It was really important to stay patient. What I have learned is that it takes a really long time to come back and I'm okay with that.  I've been playing catch-up. I know that I've got to push myself more than I ever have in my career."

In the 2nd round to be played on Tuesday, Maria will play #12 seed Samantha Stosur of Australia.  They have played 5 times before and Maria leads the series 5-0.  The last meeting was at this event in 2006 when it was played indoors and Maria won in straight sets.



source: www.mariasharapova.com