The Russian tennis player Maria Sharapova survived a US Open first round scare clawing her way back from a set and a break down to defeat gutsy British teenager Heather Watson, the world number 104.
Former world No.1 Sharapova, the third seed and 2006 champion, won 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 but only after being stretched by the 19-year-old 2009 junior champion who was making her main draw debut.
Watson wasn't overawed until the final set when Sharapova, a French Open and Wimbledon semi-finalist this summer, switched on the turbo-power.
The Russian finished with a blistering 41 winners to Watson's nine although her 58 unforced errors and eight double faults were hardly the statistics of a champion-in-waiting.
