Seed No.14 Maria Sharapova dropped the first set against Jarmila Groth in the first round of the US Open but fought back to eventually win 4-6 6-3 6-1.

The world No.60 Groth, who reached the fourth round at this year's French Open and Wimbledon, wasn’t able to challenge the former champion Sharapova all the way and in the third set Groth's meltdown was evident.

Groth committed considerably more unforced errors than Sharapova, 48 compared to Sharapova’s 17. Groth scored 24 winners to Sharapova’s 19, but 13 of those came in the first set.

And just a quick fashion note – the Nike day dress which looked questionable in the picture looks awesome on Sharapova, it perfectly follows the shape of her body and now there’s absolutely nothing that I don’t like about the dress.

Top seed Caroline Wozniacki played the last match of the night and scored her 14th straight win in the first round of a major with a 6-1 6-1 victory over American wildcard Chelsey Gullickson. (photo: © Neal Trousdale)

Fellow blogger Rich from Down the Line stopped by Nike Primetime Knockout Event that featured Maria Sharapova, Victoria Azarenka, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer playing doubles with actor Bradley Cooper, model Bar Refaeli and New York Giant Justin Tuck on Pier 54 in New York City.

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Now we know what Maria Sharapova has prepared in her closet for both day and night matches at the 2010 US Open. You may already be familiar with the Nike Striking Court Day Dress from the Striking Clothing Collection, but now we get to see the deep purple dress for night matches as well.

Interestingly, the night dress is not the same as the day one just in different color, the design has been changed too. They followed the same style, sleeveless upper part with the collar, but they disposed of the buttons and the hem in the bottom part.

With tennis dresses you can never say with certainty what you like or prefer until you see the actual design in action, but from these pictures I would tell the night dress is nicer and follows the shape of the body better. Somehow I always prefer night dresses, probably because they are more elegant. (source: Down the Line)

Maria Sharapova joined evian at an event to support their "Live young Month" campaign at the Openhouse Gallery in New York City on Tuesday. Tennis blogger Rich from Down the Line was right there providing us with some extensive coverage from the event. Read more »

Maria Sharapova revisited the area and the very building where she would have lived hadn’t it been for the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. It’s bizarre how Maria would have never become what she is today if the nuclear accident had never happened. She would never even be a tennis player, and not to mention her fortune and comfortable life in the States.

Oh, I always love to hear Maria speak Russian, it’s such a rare occasion. But don’t expect a lot, it’s just a couple of words. (E:60 via Forty Deuce)