Sharapova wins first round match at Shenzhen

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Maria Sharapova brought a win to her name to begin the 2018 season at the Shenzhen Open Monday. The Russian in her first visit to the tournament did well sweeping the second set against Mihaela Buzarnescu to win 6-3, 6-0 on Centre Court at the Shenzhen Longang Sports Center.

The Romanian began her first career WTA match playing against one of the best players in the world. While she was currently ranked higher than the former world number one, the matchup against the Russian weighed heavily in favor of her opponent. Sharapova’s return last year in April saw her rise in the ranks reaching 59^th over the course of seven months. With a full season on the horizon for the 30-year-old, she’ll no doubt teach a thing or two against Buzarnescu.

Sharapova opened the first game of the match with a swift victory over the Romanian. In response to the popular Russian, Buzarnescu managed to hold her own across court and level early. They fell into a pace with Sharapova experiencing the challenges of her Romanian opponent who is not without experience playing competitive tennis. She proved a point in the fifth with a break of the Russian but saw her answer back with a break as well leveling the score at three all.

With the notion of first round nerves playing a role, Sharapova brushed them aside and got back into focus to open things on the scoreboard. The former number one rallied two games to reach 5-3 and gained the first set with dominating shots to Buzarnescu on serve. It took 47 minutes over the course of nine games that saw Sharapova commit four double faults and 64 percent first serve.

She turned it around with a stunning start to the second set that no one though they would see occur. The forehand of Sharapova was dominating with an impression in the opening game and continued to do her well. She rallied to a four-game winning streak in the set breaking down the skills of the 29-year-old Romanian. She racked up double faults galore feeling the pressure of being in front of a crowd excited for the Russian. It was quickly 5-0 with the former number one unstoppable in her quest to finish the day with one final serve.

In a surprise turn of events after having a talk with her coach, Buzarnesu rallied to two break points but faltered to force deuce with Sharapova. The superstar handled the situation like a veteran and completed the first-round win in 1 hour and 24 minutes. She’ll face Allison Riske in the second round Tuesday in a match that will bring some familiar competition her way.

Konta wins big match against Keys at Brisbane International

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Johanna Konta started 2018 with an end to her losing streak from last season at the Brisbane International Monday. The world number nine had a hot long day against Madison Keys going the distance to win 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 at Pat Rafter Arena at Queensland Tennis Centre. It was the first match the Brit won since playing in Cincinnati back in August.

The two met last year in Beijing, two weeks after the American lost the US Open final to Sloane Stephens. The Brit took her to three sets in that battle against Keys who was looking for ways to remedy the pain of being so close to winning her first slam. The win put Konta on an even keel in her new series with Keys. 2018 brought a new slab for both of them to make good upon and bring together a positive start to the season.

The two started the match with holding serve on one another through the first four games. Keys led the way with her serving ahead of Konta to lead after five. The pace continued for Keys who had a leg up on Konta after the eighth holding her own in the ninth. The American put the pressure to the Brit who allowed the only break of the set bringing a close to 42 minutes of play. While it was a patchy run to the opening lead with 15 unforced errors and 14 winners, the 22-year-old showed the consistency to march on.

She opened the second set with a controlled win over Konta followed by a break that gave her a lead once again. The third saw a positive response from the world number nine as she set up a triple break of Keys to complete the win in the fifth to lead for the first time. A hold by Konta gave her a two-game margin from Keys in the hopes of pressuring the American. Keys answered with a victory on serve but couldn’t consolidate the break on Konta who got to 5-3 with the chance of sending the two deep.

Keys held in the ninth to stay alive but the 26-year-old still had opportunities to hold off the American from ending her day. Konta did just that in her quest for a third set reaching two set points to go all the way. It took her 37 minutes to get to this point averaging 85 percent on the serve and making just a pair of unforced errors and only five winners.

She showed even more power as she pulled off a break to love on Keys to take the opening game in the third. Not wanting Konta to dictate, Keys fought with all her energy to get a win on the break. They went to deuce that reached six breaks before the British star held on to consolidate with the serve. Keys found a way to get on the score with a service hold but more had to come in order to play an even game with Konta going forward.

She couldn’t keep up with her as the Brit had an agenda and was following it to widen the gap. While it wasn’t easy against the American, Konta led 4-3 putting the pressure down on her serve well in the late stages. A hold in the eighth put Keys on the edge of defeat and the Aussie native had her eyes on the second round. Reading the serve of Keys helped Konta get head at times setting up good ball placement on the returns. A long ball from Keys gave Konta a chance but a winner negated match point forcing deuce. She didn’t let that bother her fighting for the AD point which she achieved before winning the game and the match.

It took two hours and seven minutes to complete the big win for her new season where she averaged 72 percent on the serve despite having six double faults when it was all over. “It was my first match in quite a while so I’m really to have had such a competitive match against such a great player,” Konta said during her on court interview. “It was a tough first round for both of us and Madison is a really good player so I feel lucky to get to play her and have a really good match.”

She’s a great player,” Konta said about Ajla Tomljanovic who she will face in the second round. “I know she hasn’t played as much as she’s wanted to so it’ll be a tough match and its early in the season so everyone is still finding their bearings.”

Svitolina gets first win of 2018 beating Suarez Navarro in Brisbane

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Elina Svitolina got her first-round win in strong fashion at the Brisbane International Monday afternoon. The world number six took down Carla Suarez Navarro in straight sets 6-2, 6-4 at Pat Rafter Arena to move into the second round at the Queensland Tennis Centre.

The series between the two is tied with the Spaniard getting through a long three setter in Birmingham that took the Ukrainian out in the first round. With both playing their first match of the new year, the situation would remain the same in Svitolina standing as world number six, hoping to show her strengths right from the start. The Spaniard was on a four-match losing streak and would love nothing more than to send the 23-year-old out of the tournament early.

She didn’t get that chance as the world number five had her act together taking control of the set. Suarez-Navarro got into the set but the Ukrainian was in control of her actions taking things swiftly with winners. She got her third ace in the final stages that allowed her to swiftly take things in 37 minutes. Svitolina had 19 winners through the eight games played clearly putting together a game that she wanted so much to put to use this year.

The Spaniard needed to make a statement and did so with a big fight while playing on Svitolina’s serve. She went deep into the opening game of the second set that went to deuce. After a few breaks, the 29-year-old gained the AD point and a break. She made good of her serve in the second game taking Svitolina for a run that produced a lead. The third seed rallied back to level the score through four with a good hold followed up by a fight on deuce that she got on the second break.

The 23-year-old regained a lead in the fifth with another service hold but she wasn’t out of the woods as Suarez-Navarro leveled in the sixth showing her fight to stay alive. The seventh game was a lengthy one as Svitolina found a way to hold off the Spaniard on deuce. They went to a number of breaks on deuce before getting the win to step ahead. During the break, Suarez Navarro’s coach Marc Casabo came out to keep her spirits up and give her pointers on how to counteract her opponent’s moves.

She found herself in trouble as Svitolina took a 5-4 hold looking to put way the match while she had the chance. She reached match point on the Spaniard to get through the match in 1 hour and 29 minutes.

“It was a good start, Svitolina said during her on court interview. “First match of the year is always tough for everyone. I was trying to be extremely focused on what I had to do on court today and bring my game so I’m very happy to have won in straight sets and pleased with my performance.”

Svitolina will take on Croatia’s Ana Konjuh who she happened to warm up with her prior to her match. “We’ve played a couple of times,” she said. “I know what to expect from her and will try to play my best and see how it goes.”