Sharapova holds back rush from Begu to win
Maria Sharapova advanced to the Round of 16 for the tenth time her career at Wimbledon that was challenged late by the competition. The former champion at the All England Club was able to hang on defeating Irina-Camelia Begu 6-4, 6-3 on Court 1 Friday afternoon.
The two have only met once in their careers where the Russian dominated at Madrid with a near flawless victory in the opening rounds. So far her run at Wimbledon has been average when against top 100 ranked players. This becomes the highest rank Sharapova has faced so far where the Romanian has been fighting in the late stages of sets to pull off the wins. Playing one of the best players in the WTA in one of the most prestigious majors of the season will be just another tough fight on her hands.
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Begu broke the serve of Sharapova in the opening game, forcing deuce to show her interest in control. She wasn’t allowed to do so as the Russian fired back to break serve as well taking the second game. The response on returns from both players made the fight fierce as neither gave a chance to pull away. Sharapova responded well to the attack on Begu’s serve while the response from the Romanian was strong as well.
The battle for the lead moved into the later games where a 4-4 tie had Begu keeping pace with her drop shots on Sharapova. As the ball bounced over the net it seemed to lose all momentum on the backspin leaving Sharapova no chance for a return. The Russian earned the chance to take the set on Begu after completing her first double break. Sharapova lost the chance for a love service on three occasions taking whatever she could just to stay ahead.
In a hard fought tenth game, Sharapova was able to respond on Begu’s offense to force deuce and take the important game that ended the set in its tracks. It took 43 minutes to finish the set that showed the Russian gaining an edge against the Romanian at the most important moment.
“Obviously having the first set gives you confidence.” – Maria Sharapova
Sharapova’s momentum extended into the second set where she won her fourth straight with a love service in the second game. Begu began looking for new ways to break the Russian of her run, but faltered on the returns. Sharapova moved ahead with her third win of the set as she pulled off a two-point margin against Begu holding a comfortable position on court.
Begu nearly ended the smooth run Sharapova had the second where she saw herself up 40-0 in the fourth game. It all came to a halt where the Russian rallied back to force deuce where on a second break, Sharapova kept the streak alive putting her two games from the match. A solid double game point from Sharapova pressured Begu to frustration where she shot landed outside the right corner to hand her opponent a chance for the match.
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Begu would not allow her an early exit from the court as she pulled off a two game point victory in the sixth preventing the sweep. She built a winning streak of her own picking up the second on a break point in the seventh to keep her hopes alive. A third victory for Begu caused Sharapova to change her strategy. She would return on serve for a second time since blowing her chance for the sweep.
Sharapova nearly blew Game Ten allowing Begu a 0-30 lead. She got very lucky as the Romanian made serious errors causing a short tie before she ended her run at Wimbledon with an unforced error on the backhand watching the ball land outside the line to end the match and give Sharapova a huge sigh of relief.
“It felt good in the second and I was quite happy to that I was able to finish off in good form,” – Maria Sharapova
“I got broken in the first game made it a little more difficult for myself and at four all I played a really good game to go up 5-4,” Sharapova said to ESPN after her match. “It was nice to have that tough game and break her. Obviously having the first set gives you confidence.”
The match was over in 1 hours and 22 minutes where Sharapova had a fortunate run with her first serve gaining plenty of points to keep the margin of victory large enough to prevent rushes that Begu had. “It felt good in the second and I was quite happy to that I was able to finish off in good form,” Sharapova said.
The Russian’s game would face the winner between Zarina Diyas and Andrea Petkovic on Sunday. When asked about the late stages of the tournament, Sharapova had an experienced response for reporters. “It’s obviously what everyone in the tournament expects is to go further and expect better things from yourself as the matches get tougher you have to raise your level. That’s why there’s only one champion. It’s the one who raises their game.”