JPMORGAN TENNIS: SHARAPOVA SURVIVES TEST WITH BEST FRIEND REMAINS ON TARGET FOR NO. 1 RANKING.

Byline: Matthew Kredell Staff Writer

CARSON - Maria Sharapova played against her best friend on the women's tennis tour for the first time Tuesday.

Rankings mean little between friends, so No. 52 Maria Kirilenko wasn't ready to play her role as stepping stone for Sharapova, who is trying to take over the world's top spot this week.

Kirilenko survived six set points to give Sharapova a scare, but the second-ranked Russian survived a grueling 1 hour, 50 minutes for a 7-6 (7), 6-2 second-round victory at the JPMorgan Chase Open at Home Depot Center.

``I've known her for such a long time, and we're good buddies, so it's not easy, especially in the (first match of the tournament),'' said Sharapova, who was fighting a cold. ``But I'm sure we'll have many more matches in the future.''

Sharapova needs to reach the semifinals to claim the No. 1 ranking, and Kirilenko made sure that quest started with as much difficulty as possible.

Kirilenko broke serve in the seventh game, demonstrating she wasn't going to make this a friendly gimmie. Sharapova broke right back and appeared to have the set in hand at 6-5 with triple-set point on Kirilenko's serve.

Kirilenko stormed back to force three deuces, save another match point, and take the set to a tiebreaker.

``She's a big fighter, and I knew she was going to give it her all,'' Sharapova said. ``A lot of players ranked as she is go on to the court with nothing to lose.''

There were two controversial calls on Sharapova shots near the baseline early in the tiebreaker on Kirilenko's serve. The first one appeared long, but both were called in, and Sharapova took a 4-3 lead. Kirilenko, looking incredulous, hovered around the back judges for 30 seconds following the second point.

``This was the worst (officiating),'' said Kirilenko, who refused to shake the chair umpire's hand after the match. ``Missing one shot is OK, but three in important moments is not fair.''

Kirilenko foiled another match point trailing 6-5 in the tiebreaker when she hit a forehand volley winner in the corner. Sharapova took the lead again with a volley of her own, then failed to convert on her sixth set point. Finally, Kirilenko hit a return into the net, and Sharapova could finally emit a sigh of relief rather than her trademark grunt.

While Kirilenko was left wondering what went wrong, Sharapova sneaked off with a break in the first game of the second set. Play was stopped following the third game for Kirilenko to be treated for a sore right elbow.

After play resumed, Sharapova broke again in the fifth game and rolled on the rest of the way, finishing with a strong serve down the middle that Kirilenko returned into the net.

In other first-round matches, No. 51 Iveta Benesova of the Czech Republic beat No. 48 Sania Mirza of India 6-3, 1-6, 6-4, and ageless wonder Conchita Martinez of Spain beat Mashona Washington 6-1, 6-4.

Matthew Kredell, [phone]

matthew.kredell(at)dailynews.com