Tuesday, 7 July 2015

Wimbledon 2015: Sharapova beats Vandeweghe to reach semis

 Former champion Maria Sharapova withstood some heavy hitting from American Coco Vandeweghe to reach her fifth Wimbledon semi-final.

Fourth seed Sharapova was under pressure after losing the second set but recovered to beat the world number 47 6-3 6-7 (3-7) 6-2 on Centre Court.

The Russian, 28, goes on to face Serena Williams or Victoria Azarenka in Friday's semi-finals.

"You have to give everything," said 2004 champion Sharapova.

"You are playing in a Wimbledon quarter-final. It's been a while since I have been in a semi at Wimbledon. I was pleased to win today and it gives me a lot of confidence."
Tracy Austin, two-time US Open champion

"Coco performed very well today. Big things expected from Coco in the future with a result like this. Sharapova loves the challenge of a situation like this. She loves to be able to problem solve and always seems to be able to figure it out."
Sharapova found it hard going against Vandeweghe, who impressed in her first Grand Slam quarter-final as she hit 32 winners and dominated many of the baseline exchanges.

Five-time Grand Slam champion Sharapova was tested from the outset and survived a seven-minute opening game that included four break points.

The Russian proved the more clinical, however, breaking twice in three games to take control of the first set and again to love early in the second.

After working her way to within sight of victory, Sharapova dropped serve to love and a fired-up Vandeweghe dominated the tie-break to set up a decider.

Again, Sharapova's experience showed as she broke three times in the final set, attacking the Vandeweghe first serve with more success to close it out after two hours and 46 minutes.

"I was pretty dominant in the first set and the beginning of the second but things slipped away after that and I had to regroup," said Sharapova, who is through to her first Wimbledon semi-final since 2011.

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