Maria Sharapova made her second round match an easier one against a formidable opponent at the Australian Open. Anastasija Sevastova brought a scare to force a third set but the tiebreaker hold by the Russian secured another straight sets win 6-1, 7-6 at Rod Laver Arena on the grounds of Melbourne Park.
The Russian would be tested for the first time at the Open this year and once again but the same individual who has brought her challenges. In their last two meetings, Sharapova and Sevastova played six sets with four of them going into extra frames. The most recent in Beijing last year saw the returning superstar still dealing with heavy adversity from the Latvian who made a name for herself just weeks before. Their second-round matchup would be no different from the others meaning that the former number one would have a long day on court with the heat index rising along with the competition.
Sharapova got things on the right foot with a hold against Sevastova making her intentions clear to begin the set. The Latvian nearly had a serve to love until an error opened the attack from Sharapova to commence. She brought the game to deuce but lost on an ace that gave her the AD point securing her serve in the end. The Russian delivered a big win in the third that showed her aggressive but accuracy on the ground strokes that made returns hard for Sevastova to counter.
She found the same style from Sharapova who got to the shots of the 14th seed that got her into a quick hole. The former number one completed the break to love taking a 3-1 stance with Sevastova’s second serve suffering. She found her opponent up 5-1 coming inches from the most successful set against the world number 14. On third set point attempt, Sharapova finished off the 27-year-old in the first set with heavy pressure in the rally. It only took 23 minutes which was unheard of in their past meetings. With the wrapping on her top right leg, and having won just once on nine tries from the second serve, Sevastova was in dangerous spot of flopping against the unranked superstar.
In a surprise moment at the start of the second, Sevastova pulled off the first break against Sharapova that delivered some energy to her end. She consolidated a serve to love that clearly became the turning point for her in the match. Sharapova rallied to even the score at two apiece preventing anything serious from occurring. She gained a footing earning a break in the fifth that opened the door to gaining a margin on the 14th seed.
A second serve to love gave Sharapova a 4-2 hold putting plenty of grit and skill into her attack of Sevastova who was dwindling in courage and confidence. The Russian tried to come back after giving her opponent a lead on her serve but couldn’t convert the break as she put too much pep in her return on game point. Sevastova came back to tie the set at four all putting a lot of effort to return on Sharapova that helped her out greatly.
A third consecutive game win was almost in motion for the Latvian but the former number one killed the opportunity to break big and lead 5-4 with one game from ending the 14th seed’s tournament. Sharapova served for the match battling back from a deficit she created. After a 19-shot rally on the fifth point, the 30-year-old slowly climbed back but a final long ball behind the baseline set up a five all tie with more games in tow. The chance to counter Sharapova was alive and well when she pulled off a serve to love going 6-5 in the set with the pressure on the superstar to act firmly. She did indeed keep it together which in turn set up an important tiebreak. “When she broke me back I was like ‘whelp guess it’s gonna be three sets again’,” Sharapova said about how the end of the set was going down.
They traded off points against one another until Sharapova broke Sevastova for the fifth before gifting the sixth to her opponent. The leverage was enough for Sharapova to dictate the next few points that gave her a 6-3 run with three chances to shut it down. It took her two to down the Latvian who hit a return long of the baseline giving the victory to Sharapova in 1 hour and 21 minutes.
“She is a tough opponent,” Sharapova said during her on court interview with Renae Stubbs. “She has a game that’s very tricky no matter the conditions whether it’s cool or warm. It was today. I knew I had to get a good start and that’s what I did wrong the previous two times so I wanted to change that around but ultimately happy to get through in two like this.”
She’ll watch the challenge get harder as she faces the winner between Donna Vekic and 2016 champion Angelique Kerber on Saturday.
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