THE GRASS ISN’T GREENER FOR SHARAPOVA
Russian star loses to lowly compatriot
LONDON: Wimbledon’s 2004 champion Maria Sharapova tumbled out of the tournament in the opening round for the first time, beaten at her own game by fellow-Russian Vitalia Diatchenko 6-7 (3-7), 7-6 (7-3), 6-4 as the evening shadows crept across Court Two.
Sharapova, seeded 24th, managed to stay with qualifier Diatchenko, who plays with a similar heavy-groundstroke style, through long baseline rallies and numerous deuce games, hoping her experience would tell. “I definitely had several chances in the match. Although not playing my best tennis, I opened up a few doors and was a couple points away from winning this match. But sometimes you put yourself in a better or winning position and you don’t finish through,” a subdued Sharapova told reporters.
She said she would take time to study how she lost.
“I don’t shy away from mistakes and errors, looking back at film, learning from what went wrong. It’s not always pleasant moments, but sometimes those are the ones you need to get better.”
Twice former champion Petra Kvitova blamed increasing Grand Slam nerves after she slumped out of Wimbledon in the first round, beaten by inspired world No. 50 Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus 6-4, 4-6, 6-0.
Eighth seed Kvitova, who withdrew from the Eastbourne tournament last week with a hamstring injury, appeared to be moving well but looked pale and drawn particularly in the first set.
“I just didn’t feel well obviously. Was a first round. The nerves were there again. I don’t know. I just tried to kind of fight with myself. Probably was the biggest opponent which I have,” the Czech said.
“I tried. I changed it in the second set when I got an early break. In the third, I think it was just too quickly when she was on the board, and I just couldn’t handle it any more.” Kvitova, 28, has worked hard this year, winning five titles. The Czech, Wimbledon champion in 2011 and 2014, won back to back tournaments in Prague and Madrid, and successfully defended her title on grass in Birmingham last month.
“When I was younger, I played better on the Grand Slams than the other tournaments. Now is the time when I’m playing better on the other tournaments than the Grand Slams,” Kvitova said.
In the men’s draw, Novak Djokovic did his best to finish off his first-round match at Wimbledon in time for Court One fans to head off to watch England’s World Cup clash with Colombia.
The Serbian just failed but a 6-3, 6-1, 6-2 defeat of American Tennys Sandgren was an impressive way to kick off his challenge for a fourth title at the All England Club.
Djokovic, 31, is seeded 12th here – his lowest Wimbledon seeding – but after a problematic 12 months since pulling out of last year’s tournament with an elbow injury there are signs that the former world No. 1 is coming back to form.
French Open runner-up Dominic Thiem’s Wimbledon adventure ended abruptly in the first round when he retired with an apparent back injury while trailing Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis.
The Austrian sprawled on his stomach on Court Two as he received a deep-tissue back massage from the trainer before the start of the third set.
The trainer then rolled Thiem on to his back to manipulate his shoulders but the intervention failed to have the desired effect and the seventh seed called it quits after losing the next two games. — Reuters