Sharapova storms into Tianjin quarters
TIANJIN, China: Maria Sharapova surged into the Tianjin Open quarterfinals on Thursday as she pursues her first tournament victory since her return from a doping ban.
The Russian former world number one defeated Magda Linette of Poland 7-5, 6-3 and will play Swiss qualifier Stefanie Voegele.
The 30-year-old Sharapova has been on the comeback trail since April after serving a 15-month suspension for taking the banned substance meldonium.
Sharapova, a five-time Majorwinner, is now ranked a lowly 86 in the world and she needed a wildcard to enter the Tianjin tournament.
She saw off 71st-ranked Linette in just over 98 minutes to reach only her second quarterfinal since her return to action.
“We did a really good job of holding serve in the first set,” Sharapova was quoted as saying by the WTA website. “I feel like I made a few too many errors on my return game which ultimately led to a difficult first set.”
“But once I broke her early in that second set I played a really good aggressive game and I felt like I had the momentum in the second.” — AFP
TIANJIN OPEN RESULTS Second round: Stefanie Voegele (Switzerland) beat 5-Yulia Putintseva (Kazakhstan) 6-2, 6-3; 3-Peng Shuai (China) beat Wang Xiyu (China) 6-2, 6-2; Sara Errani (Italy) beat Beatriz Haddad Maia (Brazil) 6-4, 4-6, 6-3; Sara Sorribes Tormo (Spain) beat Wang Yafan (China) 6-4, 2-6, 6-3; Maria Sharapova (Russia) bt Magda Linette (Poland) 7-5, 6-3; Christina McHale (US) bt 6-Maria Sakkari (Greece) 6-0, 6-4; Aryna Sabalenka (Belarus) bt Duan Yingying (China) 6-3, 6-3; Zhu Lin (China) bt Hsieh Su-Wei (Taiwan) 6-3, 6-1