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 59th 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.
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