Sharapova's comeback campaign takes off

PARIS (Reuters) - After being grounded for months on American soil recovering from a shoulder injury, Maria Sharapova enjoyed watching her French Open campaign take off with a 6-2 1-6 8-6 win over fellow Russian Nadia Petrova on Wednesday.

Twelve months after competing in Paris as the world number one, Sharapova turned up ranked 102nd as she is on a comeback trail following a nine-month layoff.

The 22-year-old quickly adjusted to the Roland Garros clay, however, showing stamina and composure to advance into the third round a week after losing in the quarter-finals in Warsaw in her competition comeback.

It was a bit harder for her to adjust to the drill of competitive tennis.

"I had to check my passport to make sure it wasn't expired when I went to Warsaw. That's how long I didn't travel for internationally," she told reporters after her two-hour 12-minute encounter with Petrova.

Sharapova kept her focus while recovering in Arizona.

"I'd be in my hotel room in Phoenix and it would be like 11 p.m. and I'd watch a match and I'd be so motivated from the girls playing I'd go to the gym," she said.

"It would be dark outside and I'd ask them to go to the gym so I could work out."

Sharapova started brightly, finding outrageous angles to unsettle the 11th-seeded Petrova, twice a French Open semi-finalist.

Her compatriot, however, was also up for a fight and it seemed she had turned the tide when she opened a 4-2 lead in the decider after storming through the second set.

Sharapova, only five points from defeat, then seemed to have run out of steam.

But instead of throwing the towel, the three-times grand slam champion shifted up a gear to break back and level for 4-4 in the decider, staving off a couple of break points in the following game.

"I knew coming into this match that Nadia has very good results on clay. I got off to a really good start," said Sharapova.

"I did the right things, and I just kind of started stumbling away. Things went in the wrong direction.

"I was just glad I could pick myself up and keep fighting and do the right things, and end the match with a win."

Sharapova kept her nerve when it mattered, setting up a third-round meeting with Kazakh Yaroslava Shvedova after converting her first match point.

She left Court Suzanne Lenglen blowing kisses to the crowd and Petrova was full of praise for her.

"She really showed, even though she has been out for a while, she's willing to compete till the end," said Petrova.

"She really showed that she's a real champion and once again how she fought till the end, and she really went for her shots."

(Editing by Sonia Oxley; To query or comment on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)