2011 ASB Classic: Maria Sharapova crashes out while world number 88 Greta Arn triumphs
Former world number one Maria Sharapova of Russia has been bundled out of the 2011 ASB Classic tennis tournament on Thursday after falling at the hands of world number 88 Greta Arn in the quarterfinal match, in straight sets. The
final score line was 6-2, 7-5.
The top seed Russian disappointed everyone as a result of her poor performance at the ASB Classic event in Auckland. She was facing some serious problems due to her serve right from the start of this week.
The 31-year-old Greta who achieved her career high ranking of world number 81 back in 2002 played superior quality tennis and stunned Sharapova without any question. She dominated the Russian throughout the match and did not let
her comeback into the game at any stage.
Sharapova, who is currently ranked number eighteen in the South African Airways WTA list, was playing in her first tournament of the season as part of her preparations for the year’s opening Grand Slam, the Australian Open starting
later this month in Melbourne.
She, however, couldn’t go beyond the quarterfinal stage as the right hander committed a handful of unforced errors in her match against Greta on Thursday.
Arn, on the other hand was herself shocked by the outcome of the match. "I was shaking. I did not feel nervous, only in the last game. I started to think 'oh my god I can beat Maria Sharapova,” said the Hungarian after the match.
She broke Maria on two occasions before eventually sealing the opening set in just thirty minutes. In the decisive set, world number 88 once again maintained her lead and thus wrapped up the match.
The professional tennis ace from Hungary will next take on either Julia Goerges of Germany or Kateryna Bondarenko, who is a Ukrainian wild card entrant, to confirm her spot in the title battle.
Earlier in the day, last year’s winner Yanina Wickmayer made her way into the semi-final round after getting the better of Simona Halep of Romania in two sets. The final match score was 6-0, 6-2.
Yanina will meet the winner of the match between Heather Watson and Peng Shuai of China.
Tags: