Third seed Maria Sharapova beat Kristina Mladenovic 7-6(5) 6-3 to move into the second round at Wimbledon on Monday but had to work hard to end the resistance of her French opponent.

Sharapova, champion in 2004 and losing finalist in 2011, was taken to a tiebreak in the first set before stepping on the gas and pulling away in the second.

The 26-year-old Russian will face either Portugal's Michelle Larcher De Brito or Melanie Oudin of the United States in the next round.

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