Before she was bounced out of the first round of the Pilot Pen last week, Maria Sharapova said she wasn’t interested in mistakes made by other young, talented players who had been thrust into the spotlight the way she was after winning Wimbledon.

“I don’t like to learn from other people’s mistakes, I like to learn from my mistakes,” she said.

In her narrow escape last night at the U.S. Open, there were a lot of mistakes to think about. Sharapova, playing in fifth gear the entire match, was outsmarted and out-willed by Laura Granville, ranked 68 in the world.

Nerves and exhaustion seemed to get to Granville in the third set, when she made two bad errors in losing her serve at five games all. Sharapova was lucky to escape with a 6-3, 5-7, 7-5 victory in a match that lasted more than two hours.

Granville showed moxie throughout. When Sharapova slugged the ball harder, Granville simple blocked it back. She was steady when Sharapova was sensational, and willing to take free points when her opponent turned from sensational to reckless. In all, Sharapova made 44 errors, while Granville made only 27. When she crushed a final service winner, she turned to her father, seated in the guest box, and pumped her fists and sighed with relief.

“My game went off for a while,” She told the crowd afterwards. “I went to La-La Land.”

Earlier in the day, Lindsay Davenport churned out another easy victory.

Davenport, the hottest player on the women’s tour this summer, quickly took care of business in her first-round match yesterday, defeating Lubomira Kurhajcova of Slovakia, 6-4, 6-0. She won 36 of her 60 points off winners and had no trouble approaching the net and knocking off irretrievable volleys.

Davenport has won her last four tournaments coming into the Open and says she feels as confident and healthy as she has since returning from foot surgery last fall. She’s beaten both Williams sisters this summer, and said she hasn’t arrived at the Open playing this well since she won the tournament in 1998.

“I’ve felt really confident no matter what the situation’s been in matches, felt like I’ve been able to lift my game when I’ve needed to,” Davenport said. “Everything just seems to be flowing.”

Despite difficult conditions on a windy day at Arthur Ashe Stadium, Davenport was able to control her serve and pump out eight aces. She did make a few loose errors, 17 unforced in all, but she didn’t seem too concerned about those afterwards.

“It’s been a great year, she said.” But it’s still a tough season, you know. If I play next year, I want to make sure that I’m committed for the year.”