Sharapova defeats Gavrilova to reach Italian Open quarter-finals
Friday - May 18, 2018 7:34 am ,
Category : SPORTS
Sharapova defeats Gavrilova to reach Italian Open quarter-finals
Rome May 18 (IANS) Russian three-time champion Maria Sharapova rolled to a 6-3 6-4 victory over Daria Gavrilova to book a spot in the quarter-finals of the Italian Open a key French Open tune-up event.
Sharapova needed an hour and 38 minutes during the match on Thursday to overcome the feisty Australian who had upset Spain s Garbiñe Muguruza 5-7 6-2 7-6 (8-6) in a more than three-hour battle on Wednesday Efe news reported.
The 40th-ranked Russian dominated with her return game breaking her opponent on seven occasions and winning 19 of Gavrilova s 22 second-serve points.
Sharapova struggled at times on her own serve - getting broken four times committing six double faults and winning just 56 per cent of her first-serve points - but her high winning percentage on second-serve points (53 per cent) allowed her to clinch a relatively routine victory.
Even though the victory was not as clean as possible Sharapova saw the glass as half-full in her post-match interview.
"I just like the way that I m competing." she was quoted as saying on the WTA s Web site. "I like the way that I feel out there. I think that s really important you know... I just like the attitude with which I m playing with."
Next up for Sharapova in Friday s quarter-finals will be Latvian reigning French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko who rallied for a 2-6 6-3 6-4 victory over Briton Johanna Konta.
That match will be the first-ever meeting between two of tennis most powerful baseline players.
--IANS pgh/
Sharapova needed an hour and 38 minutes during the match on Thursday to overcome the feisty Australian who had upset Spain s Garbiñe Muguruza 5-7 6-2 7-6 (8-6) in a more than three-hour battle on Wednesday Efe news reported.
The 40th-ranked Russian dominated with her return game breaking her opponent on seven occasions and winning 19 of Gavrilova s 22 second-serve points.
Sharapova struggled at times on her own serve - getting broken four times committing six double faults and winning just 56 per cent of her first-serve points - but her high winning percentage on second-serve points (53 per cent) allowed her to clinch a relatively routine victory.
Even though the victory was not as clean as possible Sharapova saw the glass as half-full in her post-match interview.
"I just like the way that I m competing." she was quoted as saying on the WTA s Web site. "I like the way that I feel out there. I think that s really important you know... I just like the attitude with which I m playing with."
Next up for Sharapova in Friday s quarter-finals will be Latvian reigning French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko who rallied for a 2-6 6-3 6-4 victory over Briton Johanna Konta.
That match will be the first-ever meeting between two of tennis most powerful baseline players.
--IANS pgh/
