Maria Sharapova pulled off a hard-fought win against Zheng Jie at the Hong Kong Tennis Classic.
Russian battles to victory at Hong Kong exhibition
Russian Maria Sharapova pulled off a hard-fought win against China's Zheng Jie at the Hong Kong Tennis Classic.
Zheng, ranked 35th in the world, made a promising start but was ultimately dominated by Sharapova, who wrapped up a 6-7 (5-7) 6-4 6-2 victory in just under two and a half hours.
Sharapova only returned from 10 months on the sidelines last May after undergoing shoulder surgery and is using the Hong Kong exhibition as her only preparation for the Australian Open.
"She definitely played very well but in tennis the match is never over until it is over," said Sharapova, who starts the year at 14th in the world rankings.
"It was great to have a three-set match. I will take whatever comes my way; if that means losing the first set and battling back to find a way to win, then that is what I am going to do, although the goal wasn't to need to win in three sets."
Tie-break
Zheng claimed the first set in the evening match at Victoria Park after a dramatic tie-break, but Sharapova composed herself to secure the second in 45 minutes.
Sharapova continued her response in the third set, opening up a 3-1 lead before securing the win as Zheng failed to hold her serve.
"I wasn't as aggressive in the beginning, I thought she controlled most of the points," added Sharapova.
"I was letting her play her game too much and I thought I finally stepped in and started moving forward a little better as the match moved on and I started to put some pressure on her."
Meanwhile, world number nine Vera Zvonareva disposed of Japanese teenager Ayumi Morita 6-2 6-2.
The Russian, who won two WTA Tour titles last year, broke the 19-year-old twice in each set to seal the victory in 73 minutes.
