Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova made a comfortable start to her preparations for SW19 with victory over Anne Kremer at the DFS Classic in Birmingham. The Russian, who is defending the title, cruised to a 6-3 6-0 win over the 29-year-old from Luxembourg.
"I was a little bit nervous at the beginning," said Sharapova. "I didn't know what to expect in my first match but it feels really good.
"As the rounds go on, I'll keep on improving."
Sharapova recovered from an early loss of serve to power past the world number 94 with some heavy groundstrokes.
She will face the winner of the all-Australian clash between 16th seed Samantha Stosur and Evie Dominikovic.
Anne Keothavong failed to join fellow Briton Elena Baltacha in round two as she was thrashed by Laura Granville.
Granville, who also beat 21-year-old Keothavong in Surbiton last week, won 6-2 6-0.
Baltacha will face qualifier Milagros Sequera in the second round after the Venezuelan surprised 2000 champion Lisa Raymond 6-1 6-0.
MMIX
E-mail this to a friend 
Printable version 
