Maria Sharapova coasted to yet another win at the Tianjin Open. Her status in the sport along with skills against Stefanie Voegele allowed her to take control and win 6-3, 6-1 on centre court at the Tianjin Tuanbo International Tennis Centre. Sharapova averaged 85 percent of shots on the first serve to advance to the semifinals.
The 27-year-old got her first chance to face the Russian superstar in her career. She earned the opportunity with a fourth straight match win coming against Yulia Putintseva Thursday. The Swiss star had yet to face a strong player this season and would do everything to end Sharapova’s chance to dictate the tournament on her terms.
Voegele was the first to strike breaking Sharapova in the opening game making a positive response. The 30-year-old answered with a break of her own before consolidating it with a hold. The Swiss star followed suit with Sharapova who dictated the pace of the set going into the fifth. After six, the Russian made her move to break Voegele by any means and did it with huge results.
The former world number one jumped to 40-0, allowing one saved point to Voegele before falling a game down. It soon turned into a pair with Sharapova on a three-game winning streak. She had the set-in hand with her serve on fire against the 27-year-old. Sharapova got to set point capping 32 minutes of success with a second ace and 12 of 13 won on the first serve.
Voegele was going in the wrong direction to start the second committing her third double fault of the match. She saved the break point going to deuce but Sharapova was in all the right places to win the first game giving her every opportunity to conduct how the set would pan out. She herself found winning difficult but the pressure of playing on deuce was heavier for the Swiss which gave Sharapova time to stay focused and get out of the jam. She watched as Voegele continued racking up double faults that made winning for Sharapova easier.
Before the 27-year-old got her first win, she committed five double faults, had 4 of 14 on the second serve and handed the Russian four straight. She made the attempt to get another win breaking Sharapova but it was not meant to be as the world number 86 played comfortably on the AD point to go up 5-1.
Voegele sat on the edge of defeat and ended with a rough finish on serve. Errors gave Sharapova three match points on a sixth double fault. Sharapova blew her first attempt but put the match away on the second with a drive down the line to conclude a quick 64-minute day. With just two matches standing between her and a title, Sharapova would await the winner between China Shuai Peng and Sara Soribes Tormo of Spain.
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