Sharapova enjoys pain-free 1st round in Melbourne

Maria Sharapova said it felt like "forever" since she last played a match without pain, although she didn't hang around long on Hisense Arena to enjoy the experience.

Finally recovered from a left ankle injury she sustained in September, the Russian reeled off the first eight games in a 6-0, 6-1 rout of Gisela Dulko on Tuesday.

"I couldn't wait to start," the 2008 Australian Open champion said. "It's just nice to go into a match you know that you're going to compete again at such a high level in front of so many people, especially a place where I've won before."

Sharapova said the ankle, which forced her to pull out of a planned tuneup event in Brisbane, was no longer troubling her. She may only be 24, but Sharapova is playing in her ninth Australian Open and the three-time Grand Slam winner said she is experienced enough to cope with not playing any matches coming into a major tournament.

Since a breakthrough win at Wimbledon in 2004, Sharapova's career has been punctuated by a series of injuries. She was out of action for nine months until May 2009 after a right shoulder surgery.

Now, her focus is on being as healthy as possible when the major titles are on the line.

"I'd rather come in feeling good physically than feeling like I played a lot of matches," she said. "It's more important to me than anything.

"I've been on the tour for many years, played enough tournaments, I just want to be as ready as I can for the big ones."