We had a typical roller coaster match with the Belarus winning in 3 sets a very tough match.
The match was a classic with a clear outcome: Sharapova can’t get a win with Azarenka on hardcourts (5 straight loss). Interesting enough Maria had a head start with an early 5-1 lead in the first set. Then an ominous double fault gave to Vika the first break to set the tone for the rest of the match as the world no.1 got some confidence to regroup and win the other sets.
The 3rd set was quite intense (74 minutes) with Vika managing to break Maria only in the 10th game after failing to convert the previous 4 break points. The match lasted 2 hours and 40 minutes that can be a huge handicap for Vika that has to play the final the following day.
Maria has to think about many mistakes. First she squandered a break up advantage in the second set when she Vika looked also quite “down”. Second the Russian finished the match with a whopping 42 unforced errors (44 winners) and 10 double faults (when is she going to correct this?) “This one didn’t go my way,” Sharapova said. “Frustrating, but it’s the game of tennis. A lot of swings in the match today. Certainly had the lead and the advantage.”
