The most gossiped “would-be” couple on tour had a very different opener in Melbourne.
The only similarity with the 2 matches was that both Maria and Grigor raced to a 3-0 lead. But the Russian kept her march while Grigor didn’t.
Sharapova – Puchkova 6-0 6-0
Maria double bagels Olga Puchova in just 55 minutes. She said that she might be a bit rusty and she was coming from a injury to her right shoulder, but there was no sign of any problem. Maria blasted 6 aces and won 54 points vs Puchkova’s 23.
Winning 6-0 6-0 is always good and this can be also a “lucky sign” as Maria won with the same result also the 2012 Roland Garros opener to then win the tournament.
“I didn’t want to focus on the fact I hadn’t played a lot of matches.” said Maria.
Benneteau – Dimitrov 6-4 6-2 6-4
Tough luck for Grigor as he couldn’t just play his best tennis against the Frenchaman. The math just slipped in 1 hour and 46 minutes.
