French open 2008

Trouble For the Womens world No.1 in the First round.

The Womens World numer 1 Maria Sharapova had a windy start to her campaign at The rolland garros 2008 where she merely escaped a shameful first round defeate at the hands of the 103rd ranked Evginiya Rodina

Sharapova struggled with her serve in the wind in her first-round match on center court, hitting 17 double-faults and barely managing to defeat 103rd-ranked Evgeniya Rodina 6-1, 3-6, 8-6.



The top-ranked Russian, trying to complete a career Grand Slam at the clay-court major, landed only 64 percent of her first serves in the match.

“I was very close to losing this match,” Sharapova said. “Not many things were working for me today after the first set.”

The 19-year-old Rodina came within two points of winning at 5-4 in the third set, but Sharapova won the next two with strong serves to hold. At 6-6, Sharapova regained control by breaking serve for the first time in the final set, returning a second serve with a big forehand that caught Rodina flat-footed.

Then, serving for the match, Sharapova double-faulted one final time, but took the next three points to end it.

“I had problems in every department of my game today, so I’ll have to improve on every aspect of those things,” Sharapova said.

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