NEW YORK — Maria Sharapova simply couldn’t bear the thought of a U.S. Open taking place without her.
So while sidelined with a torn shoulder a year ago, she refused to follow the tournament on TV. Basically pretended it wasn’t even happening.
On Tuesday night, Sharapova was right where she likes to be: on the Grand Slam stage and in the spotlight. The 2006 U.S. Open champion returned to the tournament with an impressive 6-3, 6-0 victory over Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria.
“I was in the physical therapy office every single day, and the tennis was on. But I made a point not to watch it,” Sharapova explained. “When you’re not participating in a tournament that you very much love, and you’ve had success at, as an athlete and as a competitor, to not be there and not be competing is pretty tough.”
Earlier Tuesday, Dinara Safina came perilously close to becoming the first No. 1-seeded woman to lose in the U.S. Open’s first round. But she eked out a victory over an 18-year-old from Australia who is ranked 167th and needed a wild-card invitation to get into the tournament.
Nearly undone by 11 double-faults and 48 total unforced errors, Safina was a point away from a 4-0 deficit in the third set before coming back to beat Olivia Rogowska 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-4.
“I was surprised that, you know, she was giving me free points,” said Rogowska, who never has defeated anyone ranked better than 47th.
Ana Ivanovic lost in the first round to 52nd-ranked Kateryna Bondarenko 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7). Jesse Witten of Naples, Fla., who is ranked 276th, knocked off No. 29-seeded Igor Andreev of Russia 6-4, 6-0, 6-2; Nicolas Lapentti beat No. 19 Stanislas Wawrinka 4-6, 3-6, 7-6 (6), 7-6 (3), 6-3; and Ivan Navarro beat No. 27 Ivo Karlovic 6-4, 7-6 (8), 7-6 (5).
Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium defeated No. 16 Virginie Razzano of France 6-4, 6-3; and Shahar Peer of Israel eliminated No. 32 Agnes Szavay of Hungary 6-2, 6-2.
Otherwise, winners included 2004 U.S. Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, past runners-up Elena Dementieva and Jelena Jankovic, No. 9 Caroline Wozniacki and No. 13 Nadia Petrova.
Men’s winners included No. 2-seeded Andy Murray, last year’s U.S. Open runner-up, who beat Ernests Gulbis of Latvia 7-5, 6-3, 7-5 in the last match of the evening.
Also advancing were 2008 Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic and that tournament’s runner-up, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, along with No. 10 Fernando Verdasco, No. 11 Fernando Gonzalez, No. 16 Marin Cilic, No. 17 Tomas Berdych, No. 22 Sam Querrey of Thousand Oaks, Calif., and Taylor Dent of Newport Beach, Calif.
Dent, playing in the U.S. Open for the first time since 2005, eliminated Feliciano Lopez of Spain 4-6, 7-6 (6), 6-3, 7-5.
Neither Safina nor Rogowska played well. They combined for 24 double-faults, 113 unforced errors and 15 service breaks over 2 1/2 hours.
“I put a lot of pressure on her serve,” Rogowska said, “and it seemed to crumble a bit.”
Afterward, Safina found two things to be happy about: She didn’t break any rackets — something big brother Marat is known for — and she didn’t receive any warnings from the chair umpire.
At a glance
A brief look at Tuesday:
Attendance: Day, 34,603; Night, 23,763; Total, 58,366.
Men’s seeded winners: No. 2 Andy Murray, No. 4 Novak Djokovic, No. 7 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, No. 10 Fernando Verdasco, No. 11 Fernando Gonzalez, No. 16 Marin Cilic, No. 17 Tomas Berdych, No. 22 Sam Querrey and No. 30 Viktor Troicki.
Men’s seeded losers: No. 19 Stanislas Wawrinka, No. 27 Ivo Karlovic and No. 29 Igor Andreev.
Women’s seeded winners: No. 1 Dinara Safina, No. 4 Elena Dementieva, No. 5 Jelena Jankovic, No. 6 Svetlana Kuznetsova, No. 9 Caroline Wozniacki, No. 13 Nadia Petrova, No. 19 Patty Schnyder, No. 21 Zheng Jie, No. 23 Sabine Lisicki, No. 24 Sorana Cirstea, No. 29 Maria Sharapova and No. 30 Alona Bondarenko.
Women’s seeded losers: No. 11 Ana Ivanovic, No. 16 Virginie Razzano, No. 27 Alisa Kleybanova and No. 32 Agnes Szavay.
TV (MDT): Tennis Channel, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.; ESPN2, 11 a.m.-4 p.m., 5-9 p.m.
