Former champion Maria Sharapova avenged her fourth round US Open loss to Anastasija Sevastova by overcoming the 14th seed 6-1, 7-6 in the second round of the Australian Open on Thursday.
The Florida based Siberian delighted her fans with a near flawless display in the opening set before Sevastova pushed her hard in the second. However, Sharapova was in no mood to stretch the match in the third set. In the end, the five-time Grand Slam champion’s mental toughness and steely resolve came to her aid as she wrapped up the contest in straight sets in just 83 minutes.
Sharapova dictated play early on, looking in complete control of her ground-strokes, as the former World No. 1 cruised through the first set in merely 23 minutes. What was heartening to see was Sharapova’s confidence as she was able to produce big serves, and strike the ball cleanly from both wings. Maria won 100% points behind her first serve and 75% points on her 2nd serve, helping her reel off the last five games of the set before carrying that momentum forward in the next one.
Sharapova, who won the Happy Slam a decade ago in 2008, broke in the first game of the second set to put herself in the driver’s seat. But, Sevastova broke back almost immediately, and then started to play freely, staying toe to toe with the Russian superstar for the remaining part of the set.
Sharapova though rose to the occasion when she was asked to play her best tennis – in the second set tiebreaker. The 30-year-old won five consecutive points before closing it out on her third match point.
In round three, Sharapova will square-off against the winner of the high-profile clash between 2016 winner Angelique Kerber and the Croatian Donna Vekic.
“When she broke me back in the second set it was like ‘oh, it’s going to be three sets again’,” said Sharapova in her on-court interview.
“She’s a tough opponent.
“I knew I had to get off to a good start because I didn’t do that on the previous two occasions.
“I just wanted to get through today and I’m glad that I did.”
