AMELIA ISLAND, Fla. — Top-seeded Maria Sharapova made a successful debut at the Bausch & Lomb Championships with a 6-1, 6-3 victory against Barbora Zahlavova Strycova today.

"Coming into the match, you really don't know what to expect because your opponent has already had a few matches on clay, and this is your first match," Sharapova said. "So the most important thing today was just to try to get used to the atmosphere and the court and the opponent."

Sharapova, who ran her 2008 record to 19-1, is playing this week to get an early start on her preparation for the French Open.

She forced Zahlavova Strycova into fits during the 70-minute match. The Czech qualifier threw her racket and slammed it against her shoe and the ground, yelled at herself and even yapped to the chair umpire.

Sharapova stayed cool on the other end and was only broken once on her serve.

"I started well and got a good advantage in the first set," Sharapova said. "There were obviously a lot of things that hopefully I will be improving from this match, but it was a good start."