Maria Sharapova enjoying the form of her life – Tennis News
Intense hammering was seen at the hard courts of Beijing when the Russian former world number one, Maria Sharapova, took on the 90th ranked Slovenian underdog, Polona Hercog, in the second round of the China Open on
Thursday. The 6’2 tall Russian powerhouse bamboozled the 21-year-old qualifier in the contest; butchering Hercog in the opening set to a bagel and allowed just two games in the second phase of the match. There is something that is bringing the best out of
the 25-year-old Russian. The anger levels have enhanced and the shrieks are getting louder and louder.
In a post-match interview, Sharapova stated, “I had a long first round match, but today and yesterday was definitely a little bit quicker. I played really well in the beginning and got a bit tense in the second set, but I felt
like I really needed that challenge.”
She further added, “It wasn't easy. I was up a set and a break and played a couple of loose points, and then all of a sudden my opponent started feeling better and more confident. But when you have a letdown, you just have to recover
as fast as you can.”
The comment tells the different story than people perceive from the aggressive and focused game play from Sharapova. She is adamant to perform well and take out her opponents as fast as she can but that never used to be her policy
before. The break-up with the Slovenian basketball player, Sasha Vujacic, might have something to do with this type of play or maybe not.
At the moment, the Russian is enjoying her time out at the courts of Beijing; hammering her opponents to all corners of the courts. She hardly allows anyone to settle into the atmosphere; starts hitting the ball from the word go
and never stop until the last point is played. The Russian has definitely changed over the course of spring season. She is extremely hard to beat and only fails against the two big guns named Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka.
The next opponent that is on the hit list of the Russian blonde is the winner of the clash between the former world number one, Caroline Wozniacki, and the German superstar, Angelique Kerber. Both players are capable of playing
some world class tennis but seeing Sharapova manhandling her foes, the chances of any one of them surviving in the quarter-final are absolutely low.
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