TORONTO, Canada - The last time Maria Sharapova was on a competition court, she was walking off No.2 Court at Wimbledon with her head bowed, having retired in the first round to Pauline Parmentier at 0-5 in the third set. The five-time major champion was playing her second tournament since January after battling her right shoulder injury, and played a set and a half of strong tennis before her arm finally gave out.

On Monday night at the Rogers Cup, Sharapova again walked off the court after a first-round exit, but this time she held her head high. In a high-quality, physical match, Anett Kontaveit ground out a strong 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 win in 2 hours and 41 minutes, but Sharapova left on the right path.

"I think it's fair to say you're disappointed with the result on paper, but I think there's a lot of good things that I could take away from this match," Sharapova told reporters after the match.

"I think technically I worked on a lot of things. Now I feel like my shoulder is getting a little bit stronger. I worked on that for many months, and so was able to put in the repetition in my serve, which throughout this year I really haven't. So that was a positive and I got good feedback on that.
 
"I can still improve and there's definitely things that coming off of a match like this, I still need to improve, those little opportunities and windows that maybe most of the time, for me, came a little bit naturally when I used to play week in and week out and didn't really think twice about things.

"But I've handled that before and overcome it so I guess that's the process of coming back."

After Wimbledon, Sharapova said she "downsized" her team and headed to Italy to work with veteran tennis coach Riccardo Piatti, who previously coached Novak Djokovic, Milos Raonic, Richard Gasquet, and Ivan Ljubicic. In Toronto she was accompanied by her hitting partner Alex Kuznetsov and her physio. Sharapova confirmed Piatti would be at the US Open. 

"I've always seen Riccardo from the sidelines and I think I value his experience, not just himself but his whole team," Sharapova said. "It was just kind of like a back-to-basics kind of trip. I was with my family and my parents, was working in the morning, in the evening. It was fun. I don't know how else to say it.

"I came out of it and I was like, I don't really -- of course I care if I win or if I lose, but I was really proud of the effort that we all put into it, and I didn't really expect any results. Sometimes when you put in work, you kind of want to see results immediately.

"I just was content with what I did and the choice that I made, and I was just happy to be able to come here and play."

Sharapova next heads to the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati next week, where she has received a wildcard into the main draw.  

"I'm still building the confidence and my form and that's something that's just going to come with time and with match play. Unfortunately, I just haven't had that yet, so will just hopefully try to build on it.

"There's never the perfect scenario. I'm going to be coming up against tough players, long matches, and there are always going to be tests. And I always have to play my best tennis no matter who I play.

"So it will just take time to build that confidence again, because I have struggled with it for a long time."