Maria Sharapova was once again in fine form at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix Friday night. The former number one had her best on court against a strong up and coming Anett Kontaveit who she was able to beat 6-3, 6-4 at Porsche Arena in Stuttgart.
Two games sit between the Russian picking up plenty of points to restart her career but a new force stands in her way that was nothing short of dangerous. Kontaveit proved her worth for a fifth time having taken down Garbine Muguruza in three sets Wednesday resulting in a sizable upset. Skills play a role once more between herself and the former number one who has shown a firm pace of strength on offense. Sharapova has left quite an impression on her opponents maintaining a high number of winners and aces in the last two matches that going against the world number 73 would prove devastating for the 21-year-old.
Kontaveit served up a perfect game against Sharapova to notching a love service to start. The Russian answered with a strong opening game of her own which the young Estonian captured a point in the process. She responded once more with a hold of serve that kept Sharapova at bay in hopes to keep the set tight between one another. Sharapova saw that in the fourth as Kontaveit pressured the serve of her opponent who created errors on the ball resulting in the first deuce so far. The stalemate didn’t last long but the former number one came out with her use of winners that secured the hold of serve through four.
After another pair of service holds went into the books, a change from Sharapova helped turned the tide in the set to her benefit. The Russian fired some big returns that Kontaveit struggled on giving up the first break of the set and leverage that Sharapova would build on. Her best point of the match so far came on serve in the eighth firing away at the Estonian before redirecting the shot far away for the easy point.
The control she carried from the first point to the last came in the shape of her second love service hold that put her two games out and the set within reach. She dominated the serve of the Estonian in the ninth reaching two set points to lock down a 1-0 lead in the match after 35 minutes.
Sharapova had four aces through nine games while recording a dozen winners and just four unforced errors. Not much was wrong on Kontaveit end but the youngster knew how heavy the adversity reached. During the break, Kontaveit’s coach Glen Schaap tried to keep his athlete positive despite the whole she found herself in late in the set. Words of keeping in against Sharapova’s serves and returns were all she could do to stay competitive.
It was very difficult for Kontaveit to hang in as the Russian superstar notched her fourth game before it could be stopped. The 21 year old held serve once again in hopes to return to how the match began with an even keel. It didn’t stay that way for long as Sharapova forced her way to another break four games in. The control she had on the returns got the best of Kontaveit who was left with no alternative of counteracting the rallies.
The 21 year old nearly found her chance to win on a double break but Sharapova struck back to force deuce with such strength. Despite losing her chance, the young Estonian captured the first advantage on the break. She struck a blow with a line drive winner landing in the far corner just inside the baseline. She was still down a game on Sharapova but the fight in her game left the threat alive.
It was soon buried by the up and coming Russian who battled against Kontaveit’s serve once more to grow out a two-game margin she didn’t plan to let go. Every point in the fifth saw Sharapova increasing the level of intensity screaming out during big points she won. Another win handed Sharapova a commanding 5-2 lead with Kontaveit on the hot seat to stay alive on her own serve. She had a 40-0 run on Sharapova but it was quickly erased by the level of skill on the other end. A must win on the advantage resulted in a hard-earned victory but the ball went back to the unranked superstar for a second chance at closing the match.
In a small surprise, Sharapova handed some points on serve that gave Kontaveit a chance for the break. The Russian did everything to stop that coming back to force deuce where after four breaks and five break points attempts, she left the door open to give the Estonian her second straight win. It was the longest game of the match so far leaving Sharapova with a difficult task so far in the tournament. It led Sven Groenveld to come out and ask her to regroup and close it out while the opportunity presented itself.
It was the final chance she had before the task became harder to secure for Sharapova as Kontaveit served the tenth wanting to push her opponent far. A mistake allowed the Russian into deuce who fought hard to steal the advantage away from Kontaveit. It arrived in her first advantage of the game that resulted in a long ball to end the match and hand Sharapova her third consecutive straight sets win.
“I thought I had a really good rhythm,” Sharapova said immediately after her match. “When you don’t know your opponent too well, the first six games were trying to figure out one another and get used to it but I held serve quite comfortably and when I got my opportunity I felt like I really rolled with it and gained confidence from that as well.”
She’ll use that to move into the semifinals where she’ll await the winner between France’s Kristina Mladenovic and Spanish star Carla Suarez Navarro on Saturday.
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