BRISBANE — Russia's Maria Sharapova marked her comeback from injury with a straight sets demolition of Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia in the first round of the Brisbane International Monday. Sharapova had not played since a shoulder injury forced her off the tour in August, but she made up for lost time when she beat Garcia 6-3, 6-0 in just 64 minutes on Pat Rafter Arena. The world No. 4 handled the Frenchwoman's big serve with ease and totally dominated the rallies, breaking Garcia once in the first set and three times in the second to set up a second round clash against teenage Australian qualifier Ashleigh Barty, a player Sharapova knows little about. The 17-year-old Barty, ranked 190th in the world, recorded the best win of her career when she beat Slovakian world No. 48 Daniela Hantuchova 6-3, 7-5. In other matches, Serbia's former world No. 1 Jelena Jankovic, who enjoyed a strong finish to the 2013 season, won a tricky encounter against Italian Francesca Schiavone 6-2, 7-6 (8-6). Wildcard Casey Dellacqua made it a good day for the Australians when she came from a set down to beat Galina Voskoboeva of Kazakhstan 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 and move into a second round clash against second seed Victoria Azarenka. Estonia's Kaia Kanepi, who won the Brisbane title two years ago, overcame Russian qualifier Alexandra Panova 6-3, 6-7 (8-10), 6-2, while eighth seed Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain demolished Taiwan's Hsieh Su-Wei 6-2, 6-1. In the men's draw, American Sam Querry caused a minor upset when he beat seventh seeded Russian Dmitry Tursunov 7-5, 6-4, while Australia's Marinko Matosevic enjoyed his first ever ATP win on home soil with a 5-7, 6-4, 7-6 (7-4) win over Frenchman Julien Benneteau. Bulgarian fifth seed Grigor Dimitrov was too strong for Robin Haase of the Netherlands 6-2, 6-3 and Croatian Marin Cilic beat Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan 6-7 (3-7), 7-6 (7-5), 6-4. Venus wins in Auckland Former world No. 1 Venus Williams battled into the second round of the Auckland Classic Monday with a 6-3, 7-6 (7-1) win over Czech wildcard Andrea Hlavackova. Venus will meet Austria's Yvonne Meusburger in the next round. Earlier American Jamie Hampton, a semifinalist in Auckland last year, struggled to overcome Austrian wildcard Tamira Paszek 1-6, 6-0, 6-3. Austria's Yvonne Meusburger ousted German seventh seed Mona Barthel 6-4, 6-3, while Spain's Garbine Muguruza celebrated her return from a long injury lay-off with a 6-4, 6-3 win over American Christina McHale. Top seed Roberta Vinci of Italy and Serbia's Ana Ivanovic, seeded second, will contest their first-round matches Tuesday. US thrashes Spain Sloane Stephens and John Isner won their matches to give the United States a winning start at the Hopman Cup Monday and virtually end Spain's chances in the international mixed team competition. Stephens won nine of the last 10 games in a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Anabel Medina Garrigues before Isner beat Daniel Munoz-de La Nava 6-3, 6-4. Stephens and Isner then combined to win the mixed doubles match for a 3-0 victory. The French pairing of Alize Cornet and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga got their Hopman Cup off to a winning start with a 2-1 victory over the Czech Republic. Tsonga scored an emphatic 6-1, 6-4 win over 35-year-old Radek Stepanek. Although Cornet then lost a match with Petra Kvitova, 6-1, 3-6, 7-5 the French claimed the tie with a 6-1, 6-3 win in the mixed doubles. — Agencies
