Sharapova and Serena Move on at China Open

September 30, 2014 | By New York Tennis Magazine Staff
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Photo credit: Kenneth B. Goldberg

Maria Sharapova was a winner over Elina Svitolina in the second round of the China Open Tuesday in just under 90 minutes, 6-2, 6-2 to move into the third round at the event.

"It was great to have a good start to the match. She's [Svitolina] had a lot of success this year and had a good tournament last week, so it was a tough second round opponent and I'm really happy to get through," Sharapova said.

Svitolina came into the match after her semifinals run last week at the inaugural Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open in China, while Sharapova was upset in the third round by qualifier Timea Bacsinszky.

Up next for Sharapova is Carla Suárez Navarro, who caused a minor upset with a 6-1, 3-6, 6-2 win over the 14th-seeded Flavia Pennetta.

Also into the third round of the China Open is world number one Serena Williams, defeating Tsvetana Pironkova , 6-2, 6-3 in a little over an hour.

"Tonight I was aware that I wanted to start out strong, and I think that was the main difference," said Serena. "I was just trying to make sure I was able to win a game early on."

Serena is one of four players who have already qualified for the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global, along with Sharapova, Simona Halep and Petra Kvitova.

Two contenders for the BNP Paribas WTA Finals were upset Tuesday, as the number five seed Agnieszka Radwanska fell 6-4, 6-4 to Roberta Vinci, 6-4, 6-4, and the eight-seeded Eugenie Bouchard hit 11 double faults en route to a 6-2, 6-4 loss to Sabine Lisicki.

Bouchard and Radwanska will be paying close attention to Angelique Kerber’s match as she faces former world number two Svetlana Kuznetsova, while Makarova takes on Vinci as the final spots for the BNP Paribas WTA Finals are set.


New York Tennis Magazine Staff
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