Birmingham, June 15 :

Maria Sharapova overcame difficult conditions to beat American Ahsha Rolle 6-4, 6-2 in the DFS Classic on Wednesday, a grass-court warmup for Wimbledon. The 2004 Wimbledon champion, who has been hampered by an ankle injury, had to wait out an 80-minute rain delay and complete her second-round win in gloomy weather on a disconcertingly slick surface.

“In your first match (on grass) you never know how you will be,” Sharapova said. “It takes a few matches, and it was difficult to assess my performance because of the way she plays.” Rolle, whose penchant for serve-and-volley play and rushing the net made things difficult on Sharapova, double-faulted twice to help the defending champion break serve in the first set and lead 5-3 before rain halted play.

After resumption, Sharapova easily closed out the first set and cruised in the second.

Gerry Weber Open

HALLE: Roger Federer rebounded from his defeat in the French Open final to win his 37th straight match on grass, moving within four of Bjorn Borg’s record.

The top-ranked Federer defeated Indian qualifier Rohan Bopanna 7-6 (4), 6-2 on Wednesday in the first round of the Gerry Weber Open. Asked about Borg’s record, Federer said: “Streaks are not important to me. Winning titles is.” Federer — the Halle and Wimbledon champion the past three years — traded groundstrokes and big serves with the 270th-ranked Bopanna in a center-court match played under a closed roof due to rain.

“My expectations were not very high coming from the final,” said Federer, referring to his four-set loss to Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros on Sunday. If Federer wins the Halle tournament, he will equal the record of 41 straight grass-court wins set by Borg

from 1976 to 1981. Federer will play Richard Gasquet of France in the second round.

Also Wednesday, Germany’s Florian Meyer upset third-seeded Jarkko Nieminen of Finland

6-4, 3-6, 6-4; and eighth-seeded Kristof Vliegen of Belgium beat Swiss qualifier Marco Chiudinelli 7-6 (4), 6-0. — AP