The final match on Day / Night Three of Australian Open 2019 was Maria Sharapova (30) from Russia v Rebecca Peterson from Sweden.
Neither were happy with Alex de Minaur, given his failure to convert match point in the third set, instead keeping the ladies an extra two hours in the locker room waiting.
Peterson served first, and with three forehand winners, held for 1-0.
The Swedish forehand didn’t work as well when Sharapova served, and several errors were derived. 1-1.
Sharapova continued her run by sending in a forehand winner. A pair of Peterson unforced backhand mistakes gave her opponent three break points. Two were saved thanks to Sharapova forehand transgressions, but the 30th seed was granted the service break when a Peterson backhand failed again. 2-1 to the Russian.
A bunch of forehand errors - from both ends - and game point the result. Sharapova won the game when a winner finally came off her forehand. 3-1.
Peterson held serve, also sealing it with a winning forehand, then Sharapova extended her advantage to 4-2, a backhand the highlight.
Attacking the Swedish backhand had been successful earlier, and Sharapova employed a similar tactic again in the seventh game.
It was a success, with all four points falling the way of the former world number one, and she led 5-2.
Serving for it, Sharapova brought up three set points with her first ace. Only one was needed, and 6-2 was the lead.
A winning Sharapova forehand created a break chance in the opening game of set two, and it was converted to give Maria her fourth straight game and a 1-0 lead.
A double fault didn’t do Sharapova any favours and she trailed 15-30, but Rebecca failed to take advantage, and two shots off the Sharapova racquet, a forehand winner and service winner, wrapped up a service hold, consolidating the break. 2-0.
Up 40-30, Peterson double faulted and her forehand crumbled, donating a second break to Sharapova. 3-0.
Four winners off her forehand, and the love game for Maria boosted the situation to 4-0.
Peterson held serve, her forehand assisting, and at last she was on the board, breaking the Sharapova run of seven successive games won.
In a game of four deuces, Sharapova hit three winners - two forehand and one backhand - each setting up game point, but on each occasion she would commit an unforced error. Ultimately it was an errant Peterson backhand that allowed Sharapova to hold serve. 5-1.
Sharapova hit a forehand winner for 30-0. A Peterson backhand miss and three match points.
The end came on the first of these.
Maria Sharapova won through to the third round 6-2 6-1
No comments:
Post a Comment