Maria Sharapova edged past fellow Russian Nadia Petrova on Suzanne Lenglen court, hanging tough in a nail-biting third set before seizing her opportunity to clinch a 6-2 1-6 8-6 triumph in 2 hours 12 minutes.
Sharapaova may be diminished by her recuperating shoulder, but the former world No1 has clearly lost none of her legendary will to win. Trailing 4-2 in the third set and seemingly for the count against No11 seed Petrova, she hauled herself back into the match by sheer force of will.
The first two sets were contrasting affairs, as the score-line suggests. Sharapova found her groove quickly, and a mixture of powerful winners and unforced errors on the part of her opponent saw the statuesque Siberian wrap up the opener 6-2 in just 32 minutes.
Petrova refused to crumble however, and knocked Maria off her stride in the second set when it was her turn to find the lines and force the error. In just 29 minutes she was level.
Then began an epic third set which saw Petrova make the first break to lead 3-2, then 4-2 and even miss a break point at 30-40 for a 5-2 lead. Had she broken then, Sharapova would surely have found no way back, but as it was the 22-year-old former Wimbledon, US Open and Australian Open champion held on, and broke back to 4-4.
Petrova carved out further break points that would have seen her lead 5-4, but could not take them, and then at 6-7 30-all, the 2003 and 2005 semi-finalist cracked. She double-faulted, disputing the first serve and losing her concentration, then hit an unforced forehand wide on match point to hand victory to her thrilled compatriot.
On the tentative road to full fitness, Sharapova will be delighted at showing such resilience in the face of an onslaught. Petrova, not for the first time against Maria in a Grand Slam, is left with regrets at what might have been.
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