Maria Sharapova has defeated Roberta Vinci in straight sets at the Stuttgart Open on her return from a 15-month ban for doping offences.
The five-time Grand Slam winner, officially suspended in March 2016 after testing positive for meldonium, was controversially given a wildcard entry into the main draw of the competition.
Sharapova made light work of her first-round opponent, easing to a 7-5 6-3 victory in Germany to set up a meeting with Ekaterina Makarova in the last 16.
Despite losing her first service game, the Russian fought back and broke Vinci in the third and 11th games of the opening set to earn a lead in the contest.
Sharapova then broke twice in the second set, including in the opening game, making sure of a fairly routine path into the next round of the competition.
Daniel Lewis
