Maria Sharapova into the last 16; knocks-out Angelique Kerber – Australian Open 2012
Former world number one, Maria Sharapova, sizzled at the tennis court arena in Melbourne, Australia on Saturday; defeating the 30th ranked German, Angelique Kerber, in straight sets 6-1, 6-2 during
the Australian Open third round contest. It was another cracking win for the slender-legged Russian. She moves into the fourth round of the tournament as the contest heats up with just the elite icons left in the draw.
Surprisingly, it was the first encounter between the two leading tennis aces so there were no mind games that could affect the overall outcome of the match. It was just about putting your best in the match and wait for the
mistake from the opponent. It was a poor performance from the German, as she was completely buried under the pressure of the superior ranking and game style of Russian diva.
Sharapova was out there with just one purpose; to smash her opponent out of her misery. She broke serve in the first game and successfully pounded her opponent on her serve to take 2-0 lead. Sparing just one game for her
opponent, the Russian broke serve again in the fifth game and doubled her lead. Kerber’s performance was completely affected by this onslaught from her opponent and her unforced errors were increasing as the games passed by.
World number four held her serve in the sixth game and smashed two jaw-dropping winner down the line, coupled with one brilliantly place backhand drop shot. This was good enough to ensure the Russian’s triumph in the first
set. Kerber was trailing one set down and looked extremely disheartened at the sidelines during the set break. Lack of aggression from the German led to her downfall.
Second set was commenced by the superior ranked Russian as she held her serve to continue the momentum. Two breaks were traded in the next two games that kept the scores together as Kerber served successfully to level the
scores at 2-2. Sharapova played an eye-startling rally in the sixth game and finally won it with a forehand winner down the line to register the lead. She broke again in the eighth game to round off the set proceedings and march into the fourth round of the
contest.
Tags: