Maria Sharapova had a bad draw in Paris as she was meant to play Serena Williams in the quarters. The Russian got lucky as her nemesis was upset by Garbine Muguruza in the second round and, after Na Li’s early exit, Maria is now the hot favourite for the title.
Sharapova had to overcome a sticky Pironkova in the second round. The Bulgarian put up a fight in the opener to lead 4-2. Then Maria bounced back to win the set 7-5. The second set lasted the first 4 games (2-2), then Maria won 4 in a row to finally win the match 7-5 6-2. Match Stats.
Sharapova: I didn’t start well
The Russian Beauty commented “I started off quite cold, wasn’t moving my feet enough and just didn’t have a good rhythm. Once I got the break back, I started feeling much better about my game, and I was able to hold that until the end of the match.
You have to follow your path and concentrate on your work and who’s ahead of you and not get worried about what’s going on. Obviously when you go on court you’re aware of a lot of the upsets, not just among the women, but with the men as well. So it’s great to get a win in that type of atmosphere.”
Maria will play either Niculescu or Ormachea in the third round.
