Sharapova survives first long test in Indian Wells
Source: Agencies |
March 17, 2012, Saturday
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MARIA Sharapova took the quickest route to the last eight at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells on Thursday but she had to rely on her renowned fighting skills before reaching the semifinals.
Having not dropped a set in her first three matches, the former world No. 1 battled back from a set and break down to beat fellow Russian Maria Kirilenko 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 in just over three hours.
"She did start very well but also it was a poor start from my end," second seed Sharapova after booking her place in the last four against Serb Ana Ivanovic. "She controlled most of the points and I was on the defense a lot. That created so many opportunities for her, and she gained so much confidence after that. Then I started moving a lot better. I don't know if I wasn't seeing the ball well in that first set. It seemed like when I had my opportunities to move forward, I took an offensive ball and made it defensive for some reason."
Sharapova had lost to Kirilenko in their previous meeting, in the first round of the 2010 Australian Open, and she faced an uphill task again when trailing 3-6 and 0-2. Kirilenko, the 20th seed, has established something of a reputation as the WTA Tour's iron woman this season after winning eight of her nine three-set matches.
Asked whether she had considered the prospect of defeat, Sharapova replied: "No, because I knew that I could have played better. If I felt like everything was going so well from my end and she was just playing so good, then I would have felt like, 'Okay, well, she's just too good.' But I really felt like I could improve on so many things during the match and change things around. Little by little, I started doing those things better."
Having not dropped a set in her first three matches, the former world No. 1 battled back from a set and break down to beat fellow Russian Maria Kirilenko 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 in just over three hours.
"She did start very well but also it was a poor start from my end," second seed Sharapova after booking her place in the last four against Serb Ana Ivanovic. "She controlled most of the points and I was on the defense a lot. That created so many opportunities for her, and she gained so much confidence after that. Then I started moving a lot better. I don't know if I wasn't seeing the ball well in that first set. It seemed like when I had my opportunities to move forward, I took an offensive ball and made it defensive for some reason."
Sharapova had lost to Kirilenko in their previous meeting, in the first round of the 2010 Australian Open, and she faced an uphill task again when trailing 3-6 and 0-2. Kirilenko, the 20th seed, has established something of a reputation as the WTA Tour's iron woman this season after winning eight of her nine three-set matches.
Asked whether she had considered the prospect of defeat, Sharapova replied: "No, because I knew that I could have played better. If I felt like everything was going so well from my end and she was just playing so good, then I would have felt like, 'Okay, well, she's just too good.' But I really felt like I could improve on so many things during the match and change things around. Little by little, I started doing those things better."
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