BIRMINGHAM, England(AP) Maria Sharapova's bid to reach the third round of the Aegon Classic was delayed by rain on Wednesday, with the former Wimbledon champion leading American teenager Alexa Glatch 6-3, 5-4 before a downpour halted play.
Sharapova twice held match point but was unable to close out and play was suspended for the day with 19-year-old Glatch holding an advantage point on her own service game.
Sharapova is playing only her third tournament since being sidelined for 10 months with a shoulder injury. She had to work hard to contain a promising young player on the verge of the top 100, who mixed slice and topspin well and looked to be growing in confidence.
Glatch saved one match point at 30-40 with a first serve that caused Sharapova to block the ball back long, and another with an ace.
Sharapova had led 4-2 in the second set, when she produced an indifferent service game and allowed Glatch to break back.
However, there was enough match time on Wednesday for India's Sania Mirza to beat 11th-seeded Briton Anne Keothavong 6-1, 7-6 (5).
Mirza won seven of the first eight games, which triggered an uncharacteristic moment of fury from her opponent. Keothavong launched a ball in anger out of the centre court stadium and gained a conduct warning for ball abuse.
``It was a great match to play and a great match to pull out, and I am just happy to be playing on grass, which is faster,'' Mirza said.
She next plays either Elena Baltacha or Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.