Unseeded Hungarian packs off Sharapova
Source: Agencies |
January 7, 2011, Friday
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MARIA Sharapova hit the first speedbump in her injury comeback yesterday when she was beaten 2-6, 5-7 by Hungarian veteran Greta Arn in the quarterfinals of the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand.
The formerly top-ranked Russian, a three-time grand slam champion, has struggled to find her A game in her first tournament since last October's China Open and finally met a player in Arn, 31 years old and unseeded, who could fully exploit her hesitance.
Sharapova's serve has been shaky in three matches this week - she particularly struggled with her ball toss in windy conditions - and she has shown a lack of patience and accuracy in rallies.
Her coach counseled her during her first and second round matches to play through the middle of the court and to take her time to work her way into points but through the week Sharapova looked for the quick winner.
She made 14 unforced errors in the first set, dropping serve in the first and fifth games to lose the set in 30 minutes. By the end of the match she had made 30 unforced errors, had three double faults and had hit only won clean winner.
Defending champion Yanina Wickmayer breezed through her quarterfinal against Simona Halep of Romania 6-0, 6-2 in 63 minutes.
Wickmayer's semifinal opponent will be Peng Shuai of China who won her quarterfinal 6-4, 7-5 over British qualifier Heather Watson.
Peng was fully stretched by the 18-year-old, a hard-hitting baseliner, and took 49 minutes to win the first set with a single service break.
The formerly top-ranked Russian, a three-time grand slam champion, has struggled to find her A game in her first tournament since last October's China Open and finally met a player in Arn, 31 years old and unseeded, who could fully exploit her hesitance.
Sharapova's serve has been shaky in three matches this week - she particularly struggled with her ball toss in windy conditions - and she has shown a lack of patience and accuracy in rallies.
Her coach counseled her during her first and second round matches to play through the middle of the court and to take her time to work her way into points but through the week Sharapova looked for the quick winner.
She made 14 unforced errors in the first set, dropping serve in the first and fifth games to lose the set in 30 minutes. By the end of the match she had made 30 unforced errors, had three double faults and had hit only won clean winner.
Defending champion Yanina Wickmayer breezed through her quarterfinal against Simona Halep of Romania 6-0, 6-2 in 63 minutes.
Wickmayer's semifinal opponent will be Peng Shuai of China who won her quarterfinal 6-4, 7-5 over British qualifier Heather Watson.
Peng was fully stretched by the 18-year-old, a hard-hitting baseliner, and took 49 minutes to win the first set with a single service break.
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