By Adrianna Outlaw
Photo Credit: Mark Peterson/ Corleve

(January  16, 2011) This time the first round was not the final stop for Maria Sharapova. Dismissed in the opening round last year, Sharapova bounced back in reeling off five straight games to seal an unconvincing 6-1, 6-3 win over 33-year-old Tamarine Tanasurgarn in the Australian Open first round.

It was Sharapova's first Oz Open win since she swept Ana Ivanovic in straight sets to capture the 2008 Australian Open crown.

Starting this tournament with a new racquet   (Sharapova is playing with Head after spending years playing with Prince),  a new coach  (Sharapova hired former Tommy Haas-mentor Thomas Hogstedt and split with long-time coach Michael Joyce), Sharapova experienced the same old service issues in committing 10 double faults.

After the match, Sharapova called her split with Joyce "a break" but spoke like a woman hoping to start a new chapter of her career.

"We worked for six years together," Sharapova said of Joyce. "You know, after a really long period of time, I think a few things become a routine. I think from both of our perspectives it was really a good move to bring in a new voice, a fresh perspective into the team. He was within that transition. We all talked about it as a team. Michael is like a brother to me. We talk all the time. Obviously it's different not having him at a tournament after so many years. Yeah, I mean, it's part of an athlete's career."

The Sharapova serve was once a weapon but since undergoing a couple of shoulder surgeries and an aborted attempted to streamline her serve with a shorter motion, she continues to struggle on that shot and complicated today's match in falling behind 1-3 in the second set. 

Despite the service issues, Sharapova simply had too much power for the veteran Thai and blasted her way through the finish line to set up a second-round clash with either compatriot Elena Vesnina or French woman Virginie Razzano. Vesnina beat Sharapova, 7-6(3), 6-2, in their most recent meeting in Beijing last fall.

The 16th-ranked Sharapova fell to former doubles partner Maria Kirilenko in a surprising opening-round exit in Melbourne last year and resides in the same quarter of the draw as fourth-seeded Venus Williams, 2010 semifinalist Li Na and eighth-seeded Victoria Azarenka.