She also came within a point of suffering only the second 'double-bagel' of her career.

But the former World No 1, whose ranking should creep back inside the top 75 after her run to last eight here, insists there are plenty of reasons to be optimistic ahead of Wimbledon, which starts in under three weeks.

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"I think this is a very good starting point for me," she said.

"I always say you're only as good as your last tournament. Reflecting back on everything that I've been through in the last year, I think I can sit here and say I'm pretty proud of what I've achieved, not only in this tournament, but in that whole time.

"I've just got to keep working and keep my head up. The only thing I can do is just work on the things that I feel I need to improve and keep getting better."

Sharapova arrived in Paris having played just one tournament - in Warsaw - in almost 10 months as she recovered from a right shoulder injury.

During that time, her ranking slid into the wilderness and there were whispers that sport's highest-earning woman would struggle to recover her former powers.

But she toughed it out on the Paris clay, never one of her favourite surfaces - she once likened her movement to that of a cow on ice - and battled through four successive three-setters to reach the last eight.

Yesterday's loss to the 20th-seeded Slovakian Cibulkova proved to be a match too far.

The three-time Grand Slam title-winner will not put pressure on herself by predicting a rapid rise back to the top of the women's game.

"The one thing I've always said about ranking is that numbers never lie. They always reflect on your performance and what you've achieved," she said.

"But I've been No 1, and I've done really crappy while I've been there. I'm just looking forward to getting back out there. I wouldn't be here if I didn't think I could do it again."

The Russian also reminded her detractors of what happened when she did suffer her lone 6-0, 6-0 mauling at the hands of Lindsay Davenport in the Indian Wells semi-finals in 2005.

"I won two more Grand Slams," she smiled.