Sharapova edges Vekic in hard fought win at French Open

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Maria Sharapova battled her game and the competition to come out a winner at the French Open Thursday. The 30^th seed had errors from her serve along with Donna Vekic playing a strong amount of tennis but the pressure got to 21 year old to give the former champion a 7-5, 6-4 win on Court One at Roland Garros.

The Croatian earned her first match against the Russian in what she hoped would be a chance to attack another top player. She gave Garbine Muguruza a tough time in Madrid two weeks ago on clay and would try to get a similar if better result. The former number one hasn’t had a solid return back to Roland Garros going three sets against Richel Hogenkamp who gave her a lot to deal with. The 21-year-old would hope that her record on the surface would spell in the shape of an upset.

She began her match with Sharapova earning a break in the opening game. The Russian responded with a break before she got herself on track with a service hold in the third. The world number 30 continued to lead the way with Vekic answering the call on serve as well. The Croatian attempted to break Sharapova a second time but unforced errors on the return made that impossible.

It led to the former world number one to a 5-3 lead after a ball landing long of the line on Vekic’s serve handed a second break over. Sharapova fired an ace in the ninth but watched Vekic get two break back points. It gave her a fourth win as the Russian was out of sorts on serve to get it done and dusted. The Croatian had the door open to force the set deeper and kept it possible saving the game to force deuce. They went five breaks with Vekic keeping the pressure on Sharapova who couldn’t counter the pace that lasted almost nine minutes.

Despite having to play more tennis, the Russian kept her eyes on the prize putting down her first serve to love on Vekic with the hope of holding her back once more. The Croatian began the 12^th double faulting but nailing the point on her second serve. Just when it looked as if she had herself into a tiebreak, another double fault gave Sharapova a countering opportunity. She landed a winner for a second set point on a big forehand that Vekic didn’t hit right ending things in 61 minutes.

Sharapova remained firm to open the second set with a growing lead taking the opening pair of games. She was locked in a competitive third game where Vekic broke back in the third to get herself in a groove. It turned out not to be the case as the Russian dictated out a 4-1 run consolidating the serve in the fifth. Vekic cut the margin in half with a service hold in the sixth but failed to counter the early troubles of her opponent. Sharapova had a double fault in play but recovered slowly to get the 5-2 stance.

Vekic served to stay in the match with some big responses in the rallies with Sharapova only to be forced to deuce. She fired an ace for the AD point that resulted in a third win but more had to be done to delay the inevitable. The Croatian kept her cool against Sharapova’s second try at the match gaining a lead on the score before winning it on an error by the Russian. One game stood between herself and getting a third set to get into action. Sharapova did everything possible to nail down the match win playing the returns but a shot into the net forced deuce for Vekic. Despite getting the opportunities, the 21-year-old couldn’t get strong on the first serve but battled in the rallies with the second to stay alive. The fifth break saw the end come for the Russian who held on her fifth match point attempt to end a near two-hour match.

Sharapova finished with a 52 percent first serve and 52 percent of points won on the second serve. She had six double faults and 31 unforced errors that was the clear reason for her troubles on court. She’ll have to figure all that out when the difficulty reaches a high point going against Karolina Pliskova on Saturday.

Mertens ousts Watson in straight sets at French Open

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Elise Mertens was back into the third round at the French Open Thursday. For a second straight year, the Belgian who has been having the best season of her career advanced in a straight-sets victory over Heather Watson 6-3, 6-4 on Court Three at Roland Garros.

Both had two meetings in the books with one another and all in the Belgian’s favor. With one taking place at the start of the season, the Brit hoped to get revenge on the clay courts making it the second surface they would compete on. Watson had an average result from her bout with Oceane Dodin while Mertens went the distance against Varvara Lepchenko to enter into the second round in consecutive years. While she looked to make it back to back appearances in the third round, the 22-year-old had to put the stops in place and be the aggressor.

She opened with a break of Watson to open the set consolidating it with a service hold in the second. The early momentum was already getting the best of the Brit who couldn’t find the chance to break in the third watching the gap widen between herself and Mertens.  Watson’s seven unforced errors and struggling service game were the main cause for the Belgian’s success until the Brit fought to deuce. Five breaks spanned the fourth game lasting eight minutes where Watson made it difficult for Mertens to secure the hold and instead marked one for herself.

Mertens was in no mood to ease up for Watson earning a break in the fifth to hold three games between herself and the 26-year-old. Watson had others plans as she gained some push to her game forcing deuce on the break chance to cut into the margin through six. Mertens made her pay for it with a key break that gave the Belgian a 5-2 score serving for the set. Watson remained positive against her opponent earning a break in her consistency to keep the set alive for herself.

Mertens denied her that opportunity laying down the law with three set points to close the first in 39 minutes. She outdid the Brit overall who had a dismal offense winning seven percent from the second serve recording 17 errors due to it. With more time to recover, the 26-year-old had to find a way to dig in against the world number 16.

The Belgian remained firm on her quest to make it hers to dictate opening the second with a fight but coming out victorious. It was soon a mirrored image of the opening set with Mertens taking a 2-0 lead. Watson earned a break in the third faced heavy opposition as Mertens secured the break for 3-1. While the Belgian pushed forward, Watson tried to find ways of making her serve count at every chance. She picked up the sixth holding two points on Mertens before scoring a much needed triple break that cut Mertens margin down to one. In the last ten points, Watson had eight of them making her intentions clear to fight for a deciding set to get into play.

In an attempt to stop the Brit, Mertens rallied to deuce in the eighth but faced determination from the 26-year-old who showed poise to win playing long ball rallies despite double-faulting on serve. With things dead even at four apiece, the Belgian made her charge to go for it on serve which she successfully did before attacking every part of Watson’s game in the tenth. Mertens achieved two match points to get it done in 1 hour and 27 minutes. Both serves were below average for the world number 16 who had her opponent’s 37 errors five double faults to thank. The eight of 11 break points she recorded was a good sign to the ultimate goal of getting back into the tail end of the first week. She’ll try to progress into the second week in Saturday’s matchup between Daria Gavrilova or American Bernarda Pera.

Muguruza ends Ferro in straight sets at French Open

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Garbine Muguruza stayed cool against the hope of France to move on at the French Open Thursday, the 2016 champion laid down the result she wanted against Fiona Ferro completing the straight sets win 6-4, 6-3 on Suzanne Lenglen Court at Roland Garros.

After a terrific finish in her opening round against Svetlana Kuznetsova, the world number three got put against the young Frenchwoman. Ferro appeared in the second round for the first time but had a big obstacle on her hands. While there is no record between the two of them, Muguruza would school in the young tennis star the ropes of clay court tactics.

Instead of a lesson being learned, the 21-year-old held her ground using both the forehand and backhand shots to maintain a service hold. Muguruza followed the path made by the French youth and matched the skills that her opponent seemed to have under control. A push came in the fourth where the Spaniard had to defend her serve on deuce in the fourth. She got it locked down after a couple of breaks following it up with a break of her own in the fifth to change things up. Ferro remained tough against Muguruza who erred in the sixth handing the break and leveling the score at three all.

The world number three got back out front but couldn’t secure the break thereby letting Ferro threaten the set further. With the chance to end the set on her terms, the 24-year-old gained two set points on serve in the tenth needing just one to get out of trouble in a tight set that spanned 44 minutes. Muguruza showed a lot of composure in her service gave that got her into position with Ferro hanging on to a first serve that carried her fine but more would have to come from the 20-year-old to change the tide completely.

She was broken in the opening game of the second set but held in the third to lead the Spaniard for the first time. It didn’t last long for the 20-year-old as Muguruza answered with a hold in the fourth matching that of her French opponent. Despite struggling with forehand errors, the third seed managed to keep her head up and stay leveled through six. A break turned the tables in favor of Muguruza who took a position in front of the net at times, pressuring Ferro to rush her returns.

A key hold in the eighth sent Ferro to the edge of defeat as she served to keep it together in the match down 3-5. She battled the big forehand of the Spaniard but fell on the final point that landed behind the world number three ending her run at the tournament after 1 hour and 26 minutes. Despite a lot of effort needed to get the hold over the French sophomore, Muguruza would take it and prepare for Saturday’s third round faceoff between either Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova or Samantha Stosur.