TENNIS WTA Madrid – Maria Sharapova and Li Na, two of the favourites to lift the Mutua Madrid Open trophy, took very different routes to the third round of the tournament on Tuesday. The Russian beat Christina McHale 6-1, 4-6, 6-4. The Chinese defeated Jie Zheng 6-2, 6-2. From Madrid, Simone Kemler
Interviews, results, order of play and draws of the Mutua Madrid Open
Maria Sharapova and Li Na, two of the favourites to lift the Mutua Madrid Open trophy, took very different routes to the third round of the tournament on Tuesday.
The Russian, who reached the final last year in the ‘Caja Mágica’, came very close to defeat in a tight match against Christina McHale which ended up tipping in favour of Sharapova, 6-1 4-6 6-4. The ex-world number 1 came flying out of the box to dominate her way to the first set, but the second was much closer and at 4-4 McHale snatched a break that later allowed her to level the match. By now the American player was immersed in the tie and she took a 4-2 lead and even had a point to go 5-2 up. Asked about her second set, she said: “I didn’t create any chances for myself on her serves. I don’t think I had a break point until in that second set I didn’t have a breakpoint until I converted a break point in the third set. So I don’t feel like I was doing much off of my return and putting any pressure on her and letting her dictate from the first point. That was really getting me in trouble.” When she was against the ropes, Sharapova dug deep to turn around a match that was all but lost and ended up sealing her passage to the third round where she will meet the Australian Samantha Stosur. “Either one I believe will be a tough match, and certainly have to raise my level for that occasion. Whoever I play, you know, as much as you focus on who is across the net, I prefer to focus on my game and my level. I will really need to step it up for that next one.”
Second seed Li Na had a much easier time of it to reach the next round. The Chinese player waltzed to a 6-2, 6-2 win over her compatriot Jie Zheng and she is looking good to reach further rounds. After comfortably winning the first set, Li was 0-2 down in the second, but she responded with five consecutive games to win the match. Her opponent in the last sixteen will be US player Sloane Stephens, who won a close match against Petra Cetkovska 6-4 2-6 6-3.
