The last time Maria Sharapova stepped on court at a Grand Slam event, the biggest name in women’s tennis was drummed out of the second round of the 2008 Wimbledon championships. Eleven months later, the internationally recognized Russian star returned to the realm of the rectangle in a major tournament, as she entered the French Open with modest but meaningful goals.

After Monday’s first-round match, it can safely be said that many of Sharapova’s goals have already been accomplished.

While this French Open isn’t likely to add a new piece of hardware to Sharapova’s trophy collection, the three-time Grand Slam champion certainly wanted to make her stay in Paris a productive one. Tasting the small but meaningful satisfaction of even one match victory had to be a priority for a player who is still not fully recovered from a torn rotator cuff that forced her to miss the past two slams, including the Australian Open event that she won last year. With her right shoulder bandaged as she faced Belarus’s Anastasiya Yakimova on Court 1 at Roland Garros, Sharapova’s modest objective was to find a way to win a match, and gain at least a little more court time in the coming week. That goal was achieved with a 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 triumph over Yakimova, which sends Sharapova into the second round against 11th-seeded Nadia Petrova, who dismissed American Laura Embree on Sunday.

A championship on the terre battue of France isn’t a realistic goal for Sharapova, but the 2009 French Open could very well enable the world’s richest female athlete to play her way into shape with Wimbledon lurking just around the bend. Surviving Yakimova, a 22-year-old who had her own shoulder problems midway through the second set (enough to require a visit from a WTA trainer), represented a crucial step in that slow process; a loss in round 1 would have prevented the former world No. 1 from developing any kind of momentum in the run-up to the grass season and the rest of the calendar year.

The key to this opening-round victory for Sharapova was a quality that’s served the superstar well in her highly successful career: persistence. Sharapova labored through a train-wreck of a first set in which she coughed up 5 double faults and a total of 15 unforced errors. A grim feel settled over Court 1, as a familiar face who adds box-office appeal to the big-ticket events in her sport appeared unlikely to advance past the round of 128. Saddled with a ranking of 102 as she entered this match (due to her extended absence from the tour), Sharapova played like a lower-tier player in a set where she couldn’t get out of her own way. Even for a player with her considerable credentials, Sharapova’s chances of winning looked noticeably slim; a layoff-based accumulation of rust–more than Yakimova herself–posed a particularly formidable obstacle to any hopes of a sudden reversal of fortune.

It was precisely then that a proud champion revealed herself once again, refusing to bow to the physical and technical limitations produced by an extended hiatus from world-class competition. While Yakimova’s body betrayed her, Sharapova rounded into form. After the miserable first set of wayward shots and serves, Sharapova cleaned up her act in the final two stanzas with 22 winners and only 14 unforced errors. Following the 5 double faults in the opening set, Sharapova served a total of just 2 doubles in sets two and three. With Yakimova–who finished with a grand total of just 12 winners in the match–unable to hit through the court, Sharapova was able to dicate points and cruise home with a win.

In the past and–likely–in the future, Maria Sharapova will win bigger matches than this French first-rounder against a plucky and unknown Belorussian. But for now, it’s hugely significant for a gallant champion to merely accumulate some court time, and rediscover the rhythm that has made her career so consequential. With more grit and gumption in the days ahead, Sharapova might not scare any title contender in Paris; however, she could lay the seeds for something special as the 2009 season unfolds.

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