Maria Sharapova tumults Maria Kirilenko in the quarter-finals – BNP Paribas Open
World number two, Maria Sharapova, escaped the scare in the quarter-final contest against her compatriot, Maria Kirilenko. It was a three-hour marathon that ended in the favour of the 6’2 tall Russian. The three-setter at the hard
courts of Indian Wells, USA ended with 3-6, 7-5, 6-2. An eye-startling comeback from a set down stage was the essence of this encounter.
This triumph for Sharapova takes the head-to-head scores to 2-2. In a post-match interview, the Russian expressed her delight in following words, “She started very well, but it was a poor start from my end. She controlled most
of the points and I was on the defence a lot, which created so many opportunities for her, and she gained a lot of confidence.”
She further added, “When she took the break in the second set I was still just trying to find my rhythm. It was a little bit of everything, movement and playing-wise, but I started feeling better. Towards the end I really got me
by groove back. It's not really about how you start - it's about how you finish.”
The opening set was clearly dominated by Kirilenko who broke at the start to take the lead of 3-0. A swap of breakpoints kept her lead intact as she marched on to register the first set victory. She won 30 points compared to 25
of her compatriot and forced Sharapova to commit a double-fault under pressure.
A neck-to-neck contest in the second set delighted the crowd. Both players broke twice on the trot to keep the scores together at 2-2. It was the 24-years-old tall Russian who broke again at the ending stages of the set to take
the lead and made sure that she held her serve to level the set scores.
Sharapova bamboozled her fellow-countrywoman in the third set; broke serve on three different occasions and only donated just one breakpoint to her rival. She gobbled up 28 points in the third set and gifted 18 to her competitor.
Next up for the Russian beauty queen is the Serb former world number one, Ana Ivanovic. It is the most awaited match of the tournament.
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