Maria Sharapova prevails over Alize Cornet to enter the last eight - Porsche Tennis Grand 2012
World number two, Maria Sharapova, was handed over the quarter-final berth after a pre-mature triumph over the French qualifier, Alize Cornet, in the second round of the Porsche Tennis Grand in Stuttgart, Germany. Trailing one
set down, the 100th ranked French called it a day after incurring a right shoulder injury; battling just about 50 minutes on the red clay courts.
It was not even a complete practice match for the Russian who made her comeback to the tennis circuit after staying out for quite a while due to fatigue issues. She had been in the news headline for her short hair cut rumour that
finally turned out to be just a wig. Everything is getting shorter for the second seed Russian, even the matches are ending in just one set.
In a post-match interview, the beauty queen of Russia stated, “You never want matches to end that way. But my opponent today had already played four matches to get here and was obviously feeling it and having a bit of a problem
with the shoulder. At this stage, a few weeks before Roland Garros in her home country, it's important for her to get well.”
She further added, “The good thing about playing indoors is you know what conditions you're going to face, with no wind or different weather conditions. You know what you're going to get during the match, which is nice to play
in."
In the first set, both players started off with a serve hold before an exchange of breakthroughs pushed the scores further. Cornet bagged the third serve game to tie the scores at 3-3 and exert pressure on her opponent.
However, the little cameo from the French was ended in quick succession when the Russian came out with her big booming strokes, shrieking her way to the opening set triumph. She bagged both breakpoints allotted to her and saved
three off them to stay on top of her competitor.
The French qualifier was in the hunt for the quarter-final stage of the tournament; however, her dreams were completely shattered when she felt pain in her right shoulder after serving the first game of the second set. She consulted
to her medics and told the referee that she couldn’t continue anymore; handing over a pre-mature win to the Russian.
Maria Sharapova will either lock horns with the fifth seed Aussie starlet, Samantha Stosur, or the defending champion, Julia Goerges, in the battle for a spot in the semi-final.
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