Maria Sharapova struggles past Lucie Safarova in round two – Porsche Tennis Grand Prix 2013
World number two, Maria Sharapova, was tested to her limits in her opening contest at Porsche Tennis Grand Prix on Thursday. The top seeded Russian had to go through some tough channels before she finally overcame the Czech veteran, Lucie Safarova, in a nail-biting three-setter. The final score line settled at 6-4, 6-7(3), 6-3, in favour of the Russian beauty queen, awarding her a berth in the quarter-final round of the WTA clay court tournament in Stuttgart, Germany.
The head-to-hear record was levelled at 1-1 prior to Thursday’s contest and Sharapova really had to dig deep to improve her record against the 25th ranked Czech. She took the upper hand in the contest by bagging the opening set but Safarova stunned her in the following set tie-breaker to level the match at one-all. The top seeded Russian had to shift her gears in the decisive set and she eventually wrapped up her 20th victory of the running season in style.
"I knew today was going to be difficult - I was playing a good opponent with tremendous results on clay, and in general she's not an easy opponent to play against," Sharapova said. "I needed to be ready. And there were some things I was disappointed with - I don't think I took advantage of some of the shorter serves she hit, especially on her second serve - that's something I'll definitely be working on. But no matter how long it took today, I'm happy I got myself through this match."
The opening set witnessed a steady start from both contenders. An exchange of serve breaks was seen in the fifth and sixth game, levelling the score at 3-3. Sharapova had another break opportunity in the ninth game and she converted is comprehensively to reach 5-4. The Russian took the opener at 6-4.
Intense battle was seen in the following set and both players delivered two serve breaks each to keep the score board ticking on even terms. Safarova surprised Sharapova with her crafty game play in the tie-breaker round and clinched the second set at 7-6(3).
Only one break point was seen in the final set of the match and it came from Sharapova in the sixth game. She marked her triumph at 6-3 and booked a date with the former world number one, Ana Ivanovic, in the quarter-final round of the tournament.
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