Melbourne: Former champion Maria Sharapova put up a mid-match fight before bowing out of the Australian Open at the first hurdle on Tuesday, beaten 6-3, 6-4 by Croatian Donna Vekic at the Rod Laver Arena.

The 32-year-old Russian was clearly still hampered by the shoulder injury that had restricted her to one previous competitive outing since her opening-round exit at last year's US Open.

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Vekic proved a formidable opponent on the court where Sharapova won the title in 2008 and the 19th seed raced to a 5-1 lead in the opening set before the former world No. 1 found a way to get back into the contest.

Sharapova made Vekic work hard to close out the set and took a 4-1 lead in the second but was unable to maintain her momentum, losing the last five games to make her earliest exit from Melbourne Park since 2010.

Maria Sharapova
Maria Sharapova put up a mid-match fight before falling at the first hurdle. Reuters
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