Indian Wells- Russian Maria Sharapova made a strong start to her Indian Wells WTA title with a 6-1, 6-4, victory over Julia Goerges. Sharapova needed just 66 minutes to get past the unseeded German on the stadium court of the Indian wells tennis garden. The former world number one and four-time Grand Slam champion faced a shoulder injury that ruled her out of the US Open. Currently ranked fifth in the world, Sharapova is playing her fourth tournament of the year but is yet to reach a final. She took a break from tennis in February to attend the Sochi Winter Olympics, where she was a torchbearer and worked for US broadcaster NBC.