Maria Sharapova holds off Klara Zakopalova to reach the fourth round – Wimbledon Championships 2011
World number six, Maria Sharapova of Russia, booked her place in the fourth round of Wimbledon championships after a convincing 6-2, 6-3 victory over a disappointing Klara Zakopalova of Czech Republic.
Any thoughts of Zakopalova cantering to victory were quickly extinguished when she immediately dropped serve in the first game of the second set. The Czech was unable to fashion a break of her own, and Sharapova held her nerve
to seal the set.
The Russian No.2 clinched the opener, with a whopping 75 percent behind her first serve and 29 percent of points behind her second serve respectively. Furthermore, she made 61 percent of point on return while making 67 percent
of net approaches to win the opening set in just 30 minutes.
World class players always know how to hold up their games when the situation necessitates and Sharapova, literally, did the same, upping her level and racing to a 3-0 lead in the second set. Zakopalova was also able to get on
the scoreboard and did away with the gruesome bagel, but Sharapova comfortably served it out for a two sets to love.
Sharapova wrapped up her clean effort with a whopping twenty winners and four aces. Not to mention, she won 72 percent of points on her first serve, 39 percent of points on her second serve and a total of 31 of 57 points to clinch
the second set in just 48 minutes of play.
With this win, the Russian No.2 has improved her year-to-date win/loss mark to 29/7 matches and has finally taken the revenge of her 2003 Australian Open first-round loss against the Czech.
Emerging victorious today, the Russian No.2 now marches on into the fourth round of the tournament where she will meet Shuai Peng of China for the fourth time in her career.
Sharapova stands at a perfect 2-1 in their head-to-head series. However, both women are playing some great tennis and are no strangers to success at the All-England Tennis Club. Sharapova is a one-time champion and Peng made an
impressive run to the 2008 third-round, before losing to Alla Kudryavtseva. All of this makes for an interesting matchup, but Sharapova should be able to get the job done in straight sets.
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