Maria Sharapova had a day she would want to forget at the Kremlin Cup Tuesday. The former world number one and popular athlete of her home country couldn’t play her best in a 7-6(3), 6-4 straight sets loss to Magdalena Rybarikova at the Olympic Stadium in Moscow.
The Russian superstar played in her first tournament occurring in her home country in a decade. The 30-year-old hoped for similar success like she had last week in Tianjin where she won her first title in 33 months. With things getting back to normal for the former world number one (now 57th) would try to earn her second win against the Slovakian who she hasn’t faced in two years. They went three sets in that match with the 29-year-old hoping for a different result. She got to the final in Linz only to lose to Barbora Strycova in straight sets. Despite gaining point, she wanted to yet again make a push far in what is her last tournament of the season.
Rybarikova challenged Sharapova right off the mark forcing deuce in the very first game. The Russian got out of draw on the break winning on serve. The Slovakian’s build of moment allowed her free run on her opening service that followed with another attack on Sharapova. She struggled with the serve that got Rybarikova into the game forcing deuce once more. Despite the problems, Sharapova continued to get out of trouble and hold for a third time against the 29-year-old.
The score remained tied through six as Rybarikova held serve to keep the pace with her Russian opponent who gained her first win without going to deuce in the seventh. After another tie in the eighth, Sharapova made the first move to lead 5-4 and go for the set. Her first serve was still underperforming which led to her struggle to lock down the set. It was there that she began gifting points to Rybarikova that allowed her to level the score at five all.
Two more came in the 11th that made five consecutive points awarded to Rybarikova. She built that into a fight on deuce which she won pressuring the Russian to falter. Prior to the last game, the former number one took a meeting with coach Sven Groeneveld to help her reel in the mistakes and focus on her game. The need for a break was huge for the Russian and pulled out a great return game to force a tiebreaker into action.
The fight for the set was more serious than ever as both players fought for the lead. They were neck and neck until the problems returned at the wrong moment for Sharapova. Unforced errors and a bad double fault gave Rybarikova four straight points getting her on set point. She stayed on lock to return the ball and laid down a line drive far from Sharapova’s reach bringing an end to the set in one hour and eight minutes winning 7-3. It was more than clear that despite having six aces and 20 winners, Sharapova’s 27 unforced errors and three double faults brought her game down significantly.
The win against the Russian superstar helped Rybarikova bring together an opening lead to start the second set. She fought on the break as well but despite not gaining a bigger lead, she made it a point to lead the way in the set after three. Sharapova did everything to turn her game around but the pace remained firm with unforced errors and battles to hold serve on her end. By the seventh, it was still Rybarikova out front each time matched by the Russian. The Russian tried to get a key break in the ninth to lead but the Slovakian was in a position to capture the set at all costs. After a couple of breaks and a bad shot choice from Sharapova, the 29-year-old held to go for the match with her opponent very much beaten down by critical errors.
Sitting on the edge of defeat, Sharapova served to Rybarikova who smartly returned balls back. A second error in the game from Sharapova gave the 29-year-old two match points. She won it on a final error that was the Russian’s giving Rybarikova a spoiler in 1 hour and 55 minutes. The unforced errors that Sharapova finished with nearly reached 50 as her ball placement and fatigue were the ultimate factors in her early defeat. With her season just about done, the comeback athlete would have the next couple of months to regroup and prepare for the 2018 tour. Rybarikova planned to keep up her positive streak and go against Alize Cornet in the second round.
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