Sharapova hampers Vanderweghe’s fight to make semifinals

Maria Sharapova handled the fierce forehand of her opponent to enter the semifinals at Wimbledon Tuesday. The 2004 champion at the All England Club defeated American Coco Vanderweghe on centre court winning 6-3, 6-7(3), 6-2 to make her 20th career semifinal in a major and the first since 2011 at Wimbledon.

Neither player had met one another in their careers that made for an exciting battle in the round of eight. Vanderweghe was just one of three Americans left in the tournament that matches the most since 2004 (S. Williams, Davenport, Capriati). The 23 year old had played six matches at Wimbledon while defeating some of the best in the later rounds. Her success concluded with a dramatic win over Lucie Safarova where both sets went to a tiebreak that she was able to hang on to.

Sharapova finds herself in this position for just the fifth time in her career. She had to put in some effort to defeat Zarina Diyas of Kazakhstan Monday. Her performance on court was most unusual at a time where she wants to be the one to cut Serena Williams from gaining a third straight major. With everything in her mind, the Russian superstar will have to gain a critical focus in order to get to the semis.

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The first game went eight minutes as the speed of serve from Sharapova was matched by Vanderweghe that eventually led to four breaks on deuce. Sharapova found a way to win the game over the American landing a shot on the far corner. Vanderweghe used her strong serve to break ahead of Sharapova in Game Two where her triple digit speed and accuracy helped her find a game plan to work on centre court.

Sharapova took a 3-1 lead in the set where her fight against Vanderweghe seemed to have an effect for a time. The American had to change direction in the fifth where she pushed Sharapova to the brink before stealing the win away. Sharapova didn’t let that faze her, as the former number one got into position for the set winning her second straight.

She couldn’t get it done while facing the shot of Vanderweghe as the American stayed alive with her energy focused on scoring points. Sharapova got it done with the ball in her end defeating Vanderweghe on a double set point. The Russian fired the shot near the line where Vanderweghe’s efforts came up short landing the ball into the net.

It took 43 minutes for the set to conclude with Sharapova better on the service landing 26 of 39 where 73 percent were good for points against Vanderweghe. Despite racking up five double faults in the set, Sharapova brushed them aside and moved forward to complete a strong showing against the American.

“You’re in a position to win it and sometimes it doesn’t go your way and you have to kind of go back and go back to the thing that really helped you win the first set,” – Maria Sharapova

Vanderweghe opened scoring in the second set with a fight against Sharapova on deuce where she gained the advantage to win after a break. Sharapova answered back with a game point to prevent the American from breaking ahead. The reward became a commanding 3-1 lead over Vanderweghe as her serve was doing its job that caused unforced errors off the backhand to grow a margin against her. The American stopped Sharapova in her tracks, charging back to force deuce in the fifth game. Sharapova blew a game point that put her within the reach of Vanderweghe.

It almost happened again for the Russian committing a seventh double fault that pushed Vanderweghe into deuce. Fortunately for Sharapova she was able to end a dramatic rally her way before scoring the point on the advantage to take a 4-2 lead. The shots of Vanderweghe got the best of the Russian in Game Six that kept pressure on her opponent not to lose the lead. The closer Sharapova got to the required six games, the harder it would get as she took a 5-3 lead but couldn’t celebrate with Vanderweghe still dangerous to climb back.

She prevented Sharapova from ending it in the ninth as a fight on deuce came down to challenges. Vanderweghe threatened with her victory as she came out with vengeance in the tenth building her strength on the return that gave her a double break point to force Sharapova to move into extra games in he set.

Vanderweghe was on serve to become the first to get out front in the set doing so with a battle through four breaks that she won on a terrific arched shot that Sharapova failed to get back over. The Russian pulled out all the stops to tie it back at six all to force the tiebreak as her power increased on the break in deuce to get her only opportunity to end the set or play another full set of tennis.

The tenacity from Vanderweghe was alive as she opened the gap on Sharapova twice where she took the energy out of the Russian in the rally to push the match to a third set. The 1 hour and 19 minute set was one for the American as the crowd kept her strength alive against Sharapova who was on the verge of elimination.

“You have to give everything you have on a special occasion, on a special court like Wimbledon’s centre court you’re playing the quarterfinal to be one of the four that will try to win a Grand Slam tournament.” – Maria Sharapova

Sharapova made the change in her strategy for success during the break between sets. Her first action was a perfect love service against Vanderweghe that was followed up by two victories on deuce. The American had enough of being the punching bag for Sharapova and broke on the board with a hold of serve. She gained another win in the fifth where she had the slight advantage on deuce.

It would be short lived for the American as Sharapova blasted out to 5-2 hold on set before putting her away with a fight on deuce. During a short rally by the two players, the return from Vanderweghe landed on top of the net before falling outside the court. Sharapova was more than pleased about the way she finished the 2 hour and 48 minute match in the quarterfinal that had all the challenge that had her figuring out a way to win.

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  • Sharapova is 20-3 in quarterfinal majors and with the big win over Vanderweghe, the feeling of returning is great. “It’s been awhile since I’ve been to this stage and being back gives me a lot of confidence,” Sharapova said to ESPN’s Richie Passant.

    “I was pretty dominant in the first and then in the beginning of the second set, things slipped away a little bit for me in the second set tiebreaker,” Sharapova said. “I really regrouped after the set.” Vanderweghe finished the match with a 59 percent rate on the first serve landing 32 of 51 that went in against Sharapova. She also recorded 32 winners and 42 percent on the return for a total of 101 points. “She’s playing with a lot of confidence,” Sharapova said about her opponent. “Playing in the quarterfinal having nothing to lose so I knew it was going to be a tough match.”

    When asked about the next big step in the tournament, Sharapova gave a fair and complete thought about her upcoming future. “You’re in a position to win it and sometimes it doesn’t go your way and you have to kind of go back and go back to the thing that really helped you win the first set,” she said.

    “You have to give everything you have on a special occasion, on a special court like Wimbledon’s centre court you’re playing the quarterfinal to be one of the four that will try to win a Grand Slam tournament. She will look forward to Wednesday when she faces the winner between Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka.