Maria Sharapova struggled to find her rhythm yesterday, but advanced to the second round of the China Open thanks to her brute force from the backcourt, but Australia’s Samantha Stosur was not so lucky.
Sharapova, a former world No. 1 and the 12th seed in Beijing, defeated Bulgaria’s Tsvetana Pironkova in straight sets 6-4, 7-6 (7/5) in a duel of 23-year-olds that lasted more than two hours in warm afternoon sunshine.
The Russian, looking to bounce back after crashing out of the Pan Pacific Open last week in Tokyo in the first round to Japanese veteran Kimiko Date Krumm, used powerful ground-strokes to escape from danger in the first set, but the three-time Grand Slam winner faltered in the second set, trading three breaks of serve with Pironkova, before sealing the match with a cross-court backhand winner to end the tiebreaker.
“She started swinging away, and I was a little bit late and a little bit more tentative,” Sharapova told reporters, adding that she hoped to improve her consistency and cut down on the number of unforced errors.
“I think the first rounds are never quite perfect,” she said, referring also to her loss in Tokyo, which she said had deprived her of much-needed matchplay. “At the end of the day, I found a way to win.”
Stosur, the fourth seed, started strong, but could not hold on, crashing out of the tournament in three sets to 20-year-old Latvian qualifier Anastasija Sevastova, 2-6, 7-6 (7/5), 7-5.
In the third set, the Australian world No. 7 — who reached the final at the French Open this year — gave her opponent too many second serves to look at and was unable to recover from a crucial service-break near the end.
Last year’s winner, 10th seed Svetlana Kuznetsova, also lost in the first round to Italy’s Roberta Vinci.
“I feel like I am a better player than her, but I could not get my chances,” Kuznetsova said.
In other action, a trio of Russians — 13th seed Nadia Petrova, 2005 China Open champion Maria Kirilenko and Alisa Kleybanova — advanced with ease.
France’s Aravane Rezai, the 14th seed, lost to Argentina’s Gisela Dulko.
In the first round of the women’s doubles, Taiwan’s Chuang Chia-jung and partner Olga Govortsova of Belarus defeated Ukraine’s Alona and Kateryna Bondarenko 6-0, 6-1. Fellow Taiwanese Hsieh Su-wei and Natalie Grandin of South Africa beat France’s Sophie Lefevre and Klara Zakopalova of the Czech Republic 6-1, 6-1.
The US$6.6 million China Open is a joint WTA-ATP event, with both tours looking to make inroads in the vast Asian country, which they see as a strategic marketplace.
Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki, the top seed in Beijing, could take over the world No. 1 ranking from Serena Williams — who withdrew because of injury last week — by reaching the quarter-finals or better.
“I always go into a tournament wanting to win it. Of course [getting the No. 1 ranking) is also a goal here, but we’ll have to see if that is going to be possible,” Wozniacki told a press conference.
Titleholder Novak Djokovic is the top seed in the men’s draw, which begins today. The Serb will face a tough challenge from Britain’s Andy Murray, in action for the first time since a disappointing early exit at the US Open.
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