DOHA, Qatar - In front of a stunned crowd on Court Philippe Chatrier at Roland Garros two years ago, Caroline Garcia was ripping winners from every wing, building a 63 41 lead against Maria Sharapova and leaving some very big impressions on the tennis world - there was even a famous tweet from Andy Murray during the match, saying the French teenager would be ranked No.1 in the world one day.
Sharapova would get out of that one, 36 64 60, and on Tuesday she held Garcia off once again in her opening match of the Qatar total open. The No.3-seeded Sharapova was made to work, grinding out some tough rallies against the hard-hitting French teenager to win in an hour and 16 minutes, 63 62.
"I was quite happy with the way I played because my opponent had played a few matches already, so she's been able to get into that match atmosphere," Sharapova said. "Sometimes that's a benefit. I wanted to start really strong. I had a really tough match against her in our previous encounter, so I really wanted to start better this time, as opposed to the way I started against her last time."
Sharapova talked about Garcia's development. "I think she's an up-and-comer who is still making that transition from the juniors to the pros - it's one of the toughest things, getting your feet on the ground with the game itself, but I think we will be seeing her for many more years. I think she played really well today. She has a big game and many strengths, which I think everyone saw out there today.
"I think she has a bright future ahead of her."
Sharapova is now 10-0 lifetime at this tournament, having won the title in her two previous attempts in 2005 (beating Alica Molik in the final) and 2008 (beating Vera Zvonareva in the final).
"It's been five years since I've been here, which is quite a long time," Sharapova said. "It's nice to see so many people in the stands - it's nice to get that kind of welcome here. And when you have such great memories of how you've played at a tournament, there's always something extra special when you go out on the court and compete in front of them. You really want to repeat that success.
"But every match is new and unique. It's always tough. But I would love to keep that streak going."
