SHARAPOVA THROUGH

Anna Kournikova’s countrywoman, Maria Sharapova, has defeated Klara Zakopalova of Czech Republic in the fourth round of the Sony Open. Sharapova won the match in the straight sets by 6-2, 6-2.

Sharapova has moved into the final 8 with the help of this win.

After the match, Sharapova said, “I think I played a bit more aggressively than the last match. Also, the conditions were a bit cooler today, so, that also helped. I am glad that I am in the final 8 of this competition again.”

In the quarter final, Sharapova will face Sara Errani of Italy who reached the quarterfinals with a win over Ana Ivanovic.

Sharapova has so far played three matches against Errani and has won all those matches.

Sharapova started with a bang and with a couple of serve breaks, she raced to a lead of 4-0 in the opening set. Zakopalova held her serve for the first time in the 5^th game and then, she got a breakthrough in the next game to bring down the lead to 2-4. But, that’s all for her in the set. Sharapova wrapped up the set with a breakthrough in the 7^th game and a serve hold in the 8^th game.

Both the players started the second set with a serve hold and the scores were levelled at 1-1 at the end of the second game. Thereafter, Sharapova got two consecutive breakthroughs i.e. in the 3^rd and the 5^th game and took a lead of 4-1.

Zakopalova broke back in the 6^th game to make it 4-2. That was the last game won by her in the match.

Sharapova got yet another breakthrough in the 7^th game and then, with a serve hold in the next game, she secured her win.

This was Sharapova’s 5^th win against Zakopalova in 6 matches.

RUSSIAN OLYMPIC DREAMS

Anna Kournikova’s countrywoman Maria Sharapova has defeated Sabine Lisicki of Germany in the third round of the women’s tennis singles tournament of London Olympics. Lisicki had stunned Sharapova by defeating her in the fourth round of the Wimbledon Championship a few days back. But, Sharapova took her revenge and knocked the German player out of the Olympics. However, Lisicki fought hard and made Sharapova work hard for her points. Sharapova won the match by 6-7 (8/10), 6-4, 6-3 and secured a place in the quarter finals. Sharapova had to struggle for 2 hour and 47 minutes to win the match.

Lisicki broke Sharapova’s service in the very first game of the first set, but, Sharapova bounced back and got a breakthrough in the second game to level the score 1-1. Thereafter, both the players held their service in the next four games and the score was 3-3. But, Lisicki was able to break Sharapova’s service in the seventh game. She held his service in the next game to make the score 5-3. At the score of 5-4, when she was serving for the set, she couldn’t hold his service and Sharapova was able to level the score 5-5. Both the players held their service in the next two games and the score was tied at 6-6. But, in the tie breaker, the German player played sensibly and won the first set.

After losing the first set, Sharapova was under a lot of pressure. Lisicki continued to play well in the second set and broke the service of Sharapova in the seventh game. It seemed that the German player might upset Sharapova again. But, Sharapova made a comeback and broke Lisicki’s service in the eighth game to make the score 4-4. Sharapova again got a breakthrough in the 10th game to win second set by 6-4. In the third set, Sharapova played well and broke Lisicki’s service once to win the set easily by 6-3.

After the match, Sharapova admitted that she wasn’t at her best in the match. She said that she would like to play better in the upcoming matches. In the quarter final, Sharapova will play against Kim Klijsters of Belgium.

Novak Djokovic imitates Sharapova (Funny) HEAD Tennis

Kournikova Video Rating: 4 / 5[/random]