Maria Sharapova To Last 16 at Australian Open, Has Near Miss With Julia Goerges

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: January 21, 2011

commentComment        

Maria Sharapova has had service problems for a little while now, but when the chips were on the line in her third-round encounter with Julia Goerges at the Australian Open, she kept her biggest weakness in check.

Sure, the No. 14 seed had 11 unforced errors in her 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory, but with the exception of the shoddy serving in the opener, she was really very good. No serve summed up her performance more emphatically than a inch-perfect ace out wide at 40-15 to book her place in the Round of 16.

Yes, she had her problems against a real up-and-comer, but Sharapova fought hard and served big when it mattered most. She served out the second set at 5-4 to tie the match at a set apiece and she did the same at the end of the third after seeing Goerges come back from 0-4 down to cut the deficit to 4-5.

Sharapova missed more than half of her first serves in that shaky first set and Goerges took advantage with a barrage of heavy ground strokes to the tune of 13 winners. Sharapova’s double faults, which are now up to 23 for the tournament, came in bunches, but it wasn’t just the messy ball toss that was to blame.

While it certainly disrupted her rhythm on serve, Sharapova just wasn’t hitting through the ball. Goerges was tracking everything down and out-hitting her from the baseline and it was obvious that Sharapova needed to do more to survive.

That started with the serve, and Sharapova looked much more comfortable in the second set, nailing five aces and hitting 18 winners. Such was the improvement, Goerges did not even have a break point in the second set, which lasted a tick under an hour and could have gone either way. Once Sharapova got up a break at 3-2 though, she did seem like a world-beater out there, even if every fist clench seemed to subdue nervous tension.

Sharapova, now squealing at an alarming rate, had forced her way into a one-set shootout for a Sweet 16 berth and she...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Tennis

Latest News


Comments

Comments are closed.

Sponsors

Bruins Tickets The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston, Massachusetts. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League.

Red Wings Tickets The Detroit Red Wings are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League.

Penguins Tickets The Pittsburgh Penguins are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League.

New York Rangers Tickets play their home games at Madison Square Garden, they are one of the oldest teams in the NHL, having joined in 1926 as an expansion franchise, and are part of the group of teams referred to as the Original Six.

San Jose Sharks Tickets The San Jose Sharks are a professional ice hockey team based in San Jose, California, United States.

Toronto Maple Leafs Tickets The Toronto Maple Leafs are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League.

New Jersey Devils Tickets The New Jersey Devils are a professional ice hockey team based in Newark, New Jersey. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League.

Washington Capitals Tickets The Washington Capitals are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C.

Buffalo Sabres Tickets The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League. Get the Sabres and all of your NHL Tickets here.

NASCAR season is on of the most attended sports in the world. NASCAR Tickets to the best tracks is a must every year. Some of these tracks are: Talladega Tickets, Lowes Motor Speedway Tickets, Pocono Raceway Tickets, located in Ridgeway Virginia you have Martinsville Speedway Tickets and southern US you have two of the most popular Atlanta Motor Speedway Tickets and Texas Motor Speedway Tickets. Don't miss all the racing events this year!

Boston Red Sox Tickets The Boston Red Sox are a member of the Major League Baseball’s American League Eastern Division. Since 1912, the Red Sox's home ballpark has been Fenway Park. This is one of the hottest MLB Tickets sales of any team in the major league.

New York Yankees Tickets The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the borough of the Bronx, in New York City, New York and are a member of Major League Baseball's American League East Division. Get tickets to one of the hottest games of the season Yankees Red Sox Tickets.

Chicago Cubs Tickets The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League.

Phillies Tickets The Philadelphia Phillies are a Major League Baseball team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are the oldest continuous, one-name, one-city franchise in all of professional American sports, dating to 1883.

Orioles Tickets The Baltimore Orioles are a professional baseball team based in Baltimore, Maryland.

Do you love wrestling? Get your WWE Tickets and WWE Survivor Series Tickets today!