Sharapova strong-arms Hogenkamp

Maria Sharapova recorded so many double faults and unforced errors yet still found a way to stronghold her opponent. The former champion at Wimbledon rallied to a 6-3, 6-1 win over Richel Hogenkamp on Court Two at the All England Club Wednesday.

Sharapova continues to find her players in her path at Wimbledon where the competition makes their marks for the first time in a major tournament. For Hogenkamp, it becomes a huge chance for an upset if her game has that capability. So far she has won four straight with most coming in straight sets.

The ranked 123^rd defeated Qiang Wang Monday with a fight to hold her opponent back. With her taking on Sharapova for the first time, she would need to be at her best game or prepare for a rough outing on court.

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Sharapova opened the set with a double game point against Hogenkamp, but didn’t expect the response in the second game. The Dutch player responded by winning a double point of her own while on serve. As Sharapova returned back to serve after the tie, she committed her second double fault before she found a way to hold serve and take the lead.

Both players scored a love service on their turns with the ball where Sharapova got the best of her accurate shots. Her success in Game Six with a double break point gave her a two game lead over Hogenkamp. Sharapova put herself in a hole with double faults to hand Hogenkamp a third win but in the eighth. The Russian worked though her struggles on the return and took the win to serve for the match. Her last battled occurred on deuce where Hogenkamp tried to steal another win, but Sharapova stayed tight to win the set.

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Hogenkamp opened serve in the second where she nearly lost the game. She rallied back to force deuce before falling to the number four seed. With each passing game, Sharapova managed to keep hold of the score but her double faults continued to tally up recording eight through 11 games.

Despite the problems on serve, Sharapova didn’t have problems closing out the games against Hogenkamp. She found herself up 4-0 in the set as her opponent failed to counter big on any of her shots across court. Sharapova rallied back in the fifth game where an angled shot near the low end of Hogenkamp’s court forced deuce. She blew her chance at keeping the streak alive as Hogenkamp delivered a low shot that the 6 foot 2 Russian was never going to return.

Sharapova returned to serve where she played a solid game of tennis to win her fifth game with two points over Hogenkamp. Playing for the match, she responded well on the Dutch’s serve where a double fault put Sharapova on match point. The Russian put her opponent away with a sharp return landing just inside the court to end the match in one hour and four minutes.

Though she took the win as many expected, the errors that Sharapova committed were most unusual to see in the opening rounds. Sharapova prevented further double faults through the second and finished the match with 19 unforced errors. The service points for Sharapova were near perfect against Hogenkamp scoring on 26 of 30 shots. While she waits to see if she’ll play against Lesia Tsurenko or Irina-Camelia Begu on Friday, Sharapova will try and work out her issues on court before she returns back to action.

Next: Wimbledon: Day Three Predictions

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