SHARAPOVA HITS BACK IN ROW ON SCHEDULING WITH WOZNIACKI
Russian former world No 1 through to fourth round of US Open after a straight-sets win
As you know, I don’t make the schedule MARIA SHARAPOVA On criticism that as a wild-card entry she should not be playing on centre court
Maria Sharapova shrugged off Caroline Wozniacki’s criticism of US Open organisers for giving the Russian centre court billing in her return to grand slam tennis after a doping ban.
Defeated by Ekaterina Makarova on an outside court in the second round, former world No 1 Wozniacki lashed out at organisers for scheduling Sharapova at Arthur Ashe Stadium in her opening matches.
Sharapova, who returned from a 15-month ban in April, was handed a wild card for the year’s final grand slam and made her third consecutive appearance in the main stadium on Friday, beating American teenager Sofia Kenin 7-5, 6-2 to reach the fourth round.
“With regards to scheduling, as you know, I don’t make the schedule,” Sharapova said. “I’m a pretty big competitor. If you put me out in the parking lot of Queens in New York City, I’m happy to play there.
“That’s not what matters to me. All that matters to me is I’m in the fourth round. Yeah, I’m not sure where she is,” Sharapova added in reference to Wozniacki, who has never won a grand slam and lost her second-round match to Ekaterina Makarova on Wednesday after being scheduled on Court 5 before getting bumped up to Court 10.
“When you look on Centre Court, I understand completely the business side of things, but someone who comes back from a drugs sentence – performance-enhancing drugs – and all of a sudden gets to play every single match on Center Court, I think that’s a questionable thing to do,” said Wozniacki after her loss.
Sharapova, the champion in New York in 2006, was refused a wild card for the French Open and injury ruled her out of Wimbledon.
Her world ranking of 146 meant she needed a wild card to get into the main draw at the US Open, and she has responded to the decision by the US Tennis Association by knocking out world No 2 Simona Halep in the first round and recovering from a set down to beat Timea Babos in the second.
Sharapova will face Latvian 16th seed Anatasija Sevastova today for a spot in the quarter-finals of the competition, and will need to cut out the errors that plagued her against Kenin, 18, a fellow America-based player who was born in Russia.
Sharapova was broken three times and her 38 winners just offset 33 unforced errors.
“She had really nice words for me in the locker room, which was really nice,” said Sharapova, older than her opponent by 12 years and regarded as a hero by Kenin.
“I wasn’t surprised with the way she came out and competed. She was down I believe a few match points in the previous match.
“She’s a grinder. She’ll get many balls back. Despite not having the experience, she’s a tough player.”
Winning in straight sets against Kenin was a bonus for the Russian as it allowed her, she said, to get more downtime ahead of today’s action.
“Coming into this match playing two three-setters, I’m just happy I got it done in two. Give my body a little bit of a break,” she said. “I took a day off yesterday just as a prevention.
“I did not see the ball too well at the beginning of the match, I wasn’t getting the shots that I wanted. But got better as the match went on.”
Elsewhere in the women’s draw, Wimbledon champion Garbine Muguruza needed only 62 minutes to defeat Slovakian 31st seed Magdalena Rybarikova 6-1, 6-1 and continue her best US Open run as well as take command of the fight for women’s world No 1.
Only current incumbent Karolina Pliskova and fourth-seeded Elina Svitolina can deny Muguruza reaching the top spot for the first time when the new rankings are published on September 11 after the completion of the tournament.
“I’m taking every match as a final here,” Muguruza said.
Awaiting her today is Czech 13th seed Petra Kvitova, the 2011 and 2014 Wimbledon champion, who defeated French 18th seed Caroline Garcia 6-0, 6-4.
Kvitova has beaten Muguruza in two of their three previous meetings, and she said of playing someone of the calibre of the Spaniard: “That’s means I’m kind of deep in the tournament, finally.
“It’s nice to play someone who won a grand slam this year. I’m really looking forward for the big stage and for that match.”
American Venus Williams, who won two titles at Flushing Meadows in 2000 and 2001, advanced to the final 16 with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Greece’s Maria Sakkari in front of a partisan Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd.
Williams, 37, has now reached the last 16 in every grand slam this year, a feat she last achieved in 2010.