Maria makes winning start in Rome

Top seed Maria Sharapova began her bid to claim the world number one spot with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Anabel Medina Garrigues at the Telecom Italia Masters Roma Tuesday.

Maria Sharapova, the Wimbledon champion, capitalized on her big forehand and attacking game against her 42nd-ranked opponent. She connected with a forehand volley winner on her first match point. Both players struggled to hold serve, with Maria making seven breaks to Medina Garrigues' four.

''I don't think I played great tennis. I was making too many errors at the beginning of the match,'' Maria said. ''As the match went on, I was feeling a little bit better with my strokes.'' ''It's the first match,'' she added. ''It's never going to be easy to play a Spaniard that runs and gets everything back. So it's good to get the first one out of the way and move on.'' Maria had a chance to take over the top ranking at last week's German Open but lost to eventual champion Justine Henin-Hardenne of Belgium in the quarter-finals.

In six career clay-court tournaments, Maria Sharapova has reached only two quarter-finals - in Berlin last week and at last year's French Open. If she reaches No. 1 in the coming weeks, Maria Sharapova - who turned 18 last month - would become the fourth-youngest woman to do so since computer rankings came into use in 1975. Martina Hingis of Switzerland and Americans Monica Seles and Tracy Austin were 17 when they first became the top player while Steffi Graf of Germany was 18 years and two months. Мария Шарапова