Former world number one Maria Sharapova beat 11th seed Nadia Petrova 6-2 1-6 8-6 in an epic three-set battle to make the French Open third round. The Russian, ranked 102 after a year of injury, had a topsy-turvy first two sets and then won a 71-minute last set.

Maria will next play Kazakhstan’s Yaroslava Shvedova. The 22-year-old – a semi-finalist in Paris two years ago – has not played a Grand Slam since Wimbledon last year because of a shoulder injury.

Following her victory, Sharapova said: “These types of matches are very important for me although I spent more time on the court than I wanted to. “But I’m learning new things. It was a great match where I had to fight really hard and that’s what I did. I’m glad I picked myself up and I could win.”

The 22-year-old wrapped up the first set in 32 minutes, taking the last four games on the bounce, but fellow Russian Petrova, who had won just one of her last six matches against her opponent, levelled the match with breaks in the fourth and sixth. Sharapova fought off a break point to lead 7-6 and secured victory with a cracking forehand to win in two hours and 12 minutes.

Maria Sharapova made a successful return to singles from long-term injury with a 6-1 6-7 6-3 victory over Italian Tathiana Garbin in the first round of the Warsaw Open Monday. Sharapova had not played singles since August 2008 because of a shoulder injury although she made a brief return to competition in the doubles at Indian Wells in March, losing in the first round.

The Russian seemed in control of the game against Garbin, breezing through the first set and going 4-0 up in the second, however she wasted a match point at 5-3 and lost the tiebreak 6-8. In the third set, Maria was 3-1 down but regained her composure and took the match with a five-game winning streak for victory in just over two and a half hours.

“I was nervous closing that second set because I had not played for a long time,” Sharapova told a news conference, at which she sat with ice on her shoulder. When asked about the injury, she said “The shoulder did not bother me at all during the game. Right now it is numb, I have ice on it.”