Serena Williams surprises Maria Sharapova in the quarter-finals – Mutua Madrid Open 2012
A stunning outcome was witnessed in the quarter-final draw of the Mutua Madrid Open, with the world number two, Maria Sharapova, crumbling to the ninth ranked American power house, Serena Williams, on Friday. The highly anticipated
contest lasted for barely 79 minutes before the Russian beauty queen submitted to the 30-year-old American veteran in straight sets, 1-6, 3-6, to let her through to the semis.
25-year-old Sharapova is having a sublime run of form this season and was among the hot favourites for winning the championship title at the Madrid Open. She outplayed the reigning world number one, Victoria Azarenka of Belarus,
in the final of Porsche Tennis Grand Prix last week to lift her first WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) title of the year. Sharapova could have grabbed the world number one spot by winning the Madrid Open title but her hopes of topping the WTA World Rankings
were squashed by her archrival, Serena, in a one-sided brawl on Friday.
Serena had a six-match winning streak against the Russian diva prior to the quarter-final clash and she continued her winning trend against her to extend 8-2 in the head-to-head series. The ninth seed American exhibited yet another
display of pin-point power hitting on the blue clay courts of Madrid and gave no opportunity to Sharapova to get settles in the competition. She clinched the opening set with a breadstick and then carried on with her winning roll to seal an emphatic victory
in style.
"Playing Maria you have to be really ready because she does everything really well," Serena said. "I felt relaxed out there, and when I play relaxed I play better. And for some strange reason, it's sometimes easier to be relaxed
in the later stages of tournaments, and not be so uptight. I don't know the reason. "
"Serena started off the match really well. It was tough to get into that first set," Sharapova expressed. "She was serving really well; I had a few opportunities but it just didn't go my way this time."
Serena’s phenomenal serve included 11 thudding aces and three double faults. She clinched 21 out of 26 first serve points and broke her superior ranked opponent five out of eight times to come out as the winner. Sharapova could
merely register one out of five break points in the entire matchup to finish on the losing side.
The ninth seed American will now face the Czech qualifier, Lucie Hradecka, in the next round to fight for a spot in the final of the Madrid Open.
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