There are some big things on the line for Sharapova this week. First of all, she's going for her third straight title here, which would be the first time in her career she has won the same WTA tournament three times - on a more defensive note, she needs to reach the semifinals this week to retain her place in the Top 10, an elite she has been a part of since April 4, 2011 - 160 consecutive weeks ago. Sharapova and Safarova have had some epic battles in the past - not only did they go two hours and 56 minutes in the early rounds of Miami just a few weeks ago, with Sharapova winning, but they also went to three long sets at this tournament, and in this round, a year ago. Sharapova won that one too.
This encounter was just as dramatic. For three hours and 23 minutes the two put an absolute slugfest on display in front of a packed crowd, with the serving particularly impressive early on in the match - neither player broke serve en route to the first set tie-break, with Sharapova closing that one out to take a one set lead. Safarova struck back in the second set, jumping out to a 3-0 lead and, after getting broken back, rallying from 3-0 down in the tie-break to push the match to a deciding third set. That's where the real drama happened. After storming out to a 5-1 lead, Sharapova looked like she was on the verge of victory. But Safarova came back again, reeling off five games in a row to lead 6-5 - even fighting off a match point down 5-3 - and she was two points away, going up 30-0 in that game. But there was one last momentum swing and it swung Sharapova's way, as the two-time defending champion won 11 of the next 13 points, breaking back for 6-all and cruising through the tie-break.
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario