Maria Sharapova triumphs over Victoria Azarenka to reach the final – French Open 2013
In a clash between two former world number one challengers, Maria Sharapova battled past the Belarusian top ranked star, Victoria Azarenka, in a three-set thriller at the Roland Garros 2013 on Thursday. She summed up a 6-1, 2-6,
6-4 victory against the third seed to secure a spot in the title-round at the prestigious clay court tournament held in Paris.
The world number two, Sharapova, lost her track in the second set. However, she lifted her game again and subsequently pocketed the match in two hours and 10 minutes. As a result, the Russian lowered the trail in the head-to-head
series by 6-7 against Azarenka and stayed on track to defend her crown.
The Russian star was quoted in an on-court interview after stealing the limelight, "I played a good first set, then in the second set it was 2-all and I made some easy mistakes, shots I should've made. I should've put pressure
on her in that game. Against an opponent like her you can't give her those chances back, because she will take it. She's a confidence player.
"But I had to stay aggressive. I've never really thought about going out on the court and just trying to be consistent - the way I win matches is by being aggressive, by moving my power, by looking to move forward and play that
aggressive game.”
Sharapova was sensational in the clash against the Belarusian. After Azarenka held her opening serve, the Russian went on a six-game killing spree and clinched the opener with a breadstick.
The 23-year-old re-focused her strategy in the following set. She displayed brilliant skills and wiped out the last four games to grab the equaliser with a 6-2 win.
In the deciding set, the Russian re-gained her strength. She lost her serve once but capitalised on three break chances to leap to a 5-2 lead. Despite gifting away her serve again, Sharapova held her proceeding serves and clinched
the decider with a 6-4 score line.
Summing up the defending champion’s performance, Sharapova spilled 11 double faults but fired 12 aces to neutralise the effect. She lost her serve five times but cashed six out of 10 break chances to rule the match. The Russian
hammered 42 winners and sealed the deal with 87 points.
Next challenge for Sharapova is the top seed, Serena Williams, in the final round. The American icon slaughtered Sara Errani with a bagel to set-up this blockbuster final.
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