Maria Sharapova battles past Tsvetana Pironkova to round three – Wimbledon Championships 2012s
World number one, Maria Sharapova, escaped a scare on the eve of Thursday against the 24-year-old Bulgarian, Tsvetana Pironkova, in the second round of the Wimbledon Championships. She won the first set in a tie-break 7-6(3), lost
the second tie-break 6-7(3) but registered a resounding bagel 6-0 in the final battle to reach the round of 32.
The Bulgarian starlet opened up the proceedings and held her serve right up. Sharapova broke serve in the third game and took a lead of 2-1. However, she couldn’t hold on to her lead for long and was broken back that levelled the
scores at 3-3.
Sharapova was under the cosh throughout the set. She only created one breakpoint but saved six of them to keep the set alive. Both players smashed a couple of aces and the Russian smashed 11 winner, three more than her rival, to
enforce the tie-breaker. In a tie-break the Bulgarian couldn’t control the onslaught of her rival and lost the opening set.
The second set witnessed a swap of breakpoints in the early stages. However, no drama was witnessed in the remaining part of the set, enforcing another tie-breaker round into play. Sharapova committed four double faults on the
trot in a tie-break that gave a resounding lead to her rival who easily clinched the second set.
In the final set, Sharapova slaughtered her competitor completely. She played with utmost control and bagged three breaks in a row, with three serve holds as well that rounded off the proceedings in her favour. It was the fourth
straight head-to-head triumph for the 25-year-old Russian against the 38th ranked Bulgarian. However, it was not as comprehensive as expected.
In a post-match interview, Sharapova said, “Today I wanted to start off really well because I knew I was up a break, but it didn't go according to plan. I really served sloppy. In the third I changed it around. There wasn't anything
specific I did - we were playing with the same balls, I played with the same racquet - I just told myself to do better.”
She further added, “If she played on grass 365 days a year she'd be Top 5. It doesn't work that way, but she has the perfect game for it. She always does really well against top players - she really rises for the occasion.”
Next up for Sharapova is the Taiwanese player, Su-Wei Hsieh.
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