Maria Sharapova crushes Chanelle Scheepers in the second round – Open GDF Suez 2012
Top seed Maria Sharapova cruised past Chanelle Scheepers of South Africa into the quarterfinals of the Open GDF Suez in Paris, France on Wednesday. The Russian dropped just four games in the entire match, winning it 6-3,
6-1 in just an hour and eight minutes.
Sharapova and Scheepers broke each other on a number of occasions in the opening set. The Russian broke Scheepers in the third game but the South African broke back in the very next game to square off the score at 2-2. Sharapova
broke her opponent again in the fifth game to take a 3-2 lead. However, once again she failed to capitalise on the break of serve, losing her next service game and levelling the score at 3-3. After that, it was all Sharapova show, as the Russian won three
games in a row to clinch the set 6-3.
The former world number one, Sharapova, continuously attacked her opponent’s second serve, winning 14 of the 15 second return points in the first set. The Russian won 50 percent of the first service points and converted four
of the eight break points she received in the opening set.
Sharapova made a solid start to the second set, as she took the lead straightaway, breaking Scheepers in the second game and holding her next service game to claim a 3-0 lead. The 6 ft 2 in tall broke the South African again
in the sixth game and consolidated on the double break of serve to seal the set 6-1.
The Russian won most of the points on her first serve, converting 12 of the 15 of them. In a similar fashion to the first set, the three-time Grand Slam champion pressurised Scheepers with aggressive second returns in the
next set.
During the post-match press conference, Sharapova said, "I just did all right. Just a couple of breaks back-to-back in the beginning of the first set, but after that I felt like I started playing much better."
The Russian added, "I love that type of atmosphere where it seems like the fans are very close to you. It is much more intimate because the stands kind of go much higher instead of going out. But I personally like that. When
we play around so many big stadiums, it seems like the people are really spread out."
Sharapova is slated to take on the winner of the second round match between Monica Niculescu and Angelique Kerber in the quarterfinals.
Tags: