Bookmark this page to:        
Current rating: 0 (0 ratings)
Campus Comebacks: Maria Sharapova, Melanie Oudin Advance At Stanford
By Adrianna Outlaw
© Tony Chang/Chang Photography
(July 28, 2010) Zheng Jie got Maria Sharapova's attention the last time they met. Sharapova got even last night The fifth-seeded Sharapova made a winning return to hard courts in dispatching Zheng, 6-4, 7-5, to advance to the second round of the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford.
Melanie Oudin pulled off yet another compelling comeback. The 44th-ranked American made a rousing rally from a 1-5 second-set deficit to defeat 2009 tournament champion Aleksandra Wozniak, 6-7(6), 7-5, 6-3 in the evening's final match that lasted 2 hours, 29 minutes.
The 44th-ranked Oudin won 14 of 17 points played on her first serve and converted two of three break points in the final set. Oudin will play eighth-seeded Victoria Azarenka for a spot in the quarterfinals. Azarenka crushed Japan's Ayumi Morita, 6-0, 6-2.
Playing her first match since a fourth-round Wimbledon loss to Serena Williams, Sharapova offset six double faults with six aces and saved five of seven break points. The former World No. 1 raised her record to 15-3 in her last 18 matches with two of those three losses coming to Williams at Wimbledon and former World No. 1 Justine Henin at Roland Garros.
"After you don't play for a while you have to be ready from the beginning," said Sharapova. "I wanted to adapt as quickly as I could. She's a competitor and a good player and I had to be ready."
The match was a rematch of the Indian Wells clash in March that saw Zheng upset Sharapova.
In a match that featured 38 break points, Zheng took advantage of 14 double faults from Sharapova and won the final four games to knock the 2006 Indian Wells champion out of the BNP Paribas Open, 6-3, 2-6, 6-3.
The 5-foot-4 1/2 Zheng would need to stand on a step stool to high-five the 6-foot-2 Sharapova. While she may be vertically challenged Zheng suffers no shortage of fearlessness. She hits the ball hard and flat. Sharapova was prepared for the barrage and served much more effectively in the rematch.
"That was a scratchy match," said Sharapova of the Indian Wells loss. "I wasn't feeling good and I didn't want to remember it."
A difference in the rematch was Sharapova's persistence in pounding returns.
"I returned better when I had to," Sharapova said. "There was no choice. I couldn't rely on the serve the whole match. I don't think I took advantage enough on her serves, especially the second serve. That's something I'll want to improve going forward."
Next up for Sharapova is a round of 16 meeting with Olga Govortsova of Belarus.
"I'm just trying to work myself toward the U.S. Open," Sharapova said. "I'm just happy to be back playing...My mentality is to keep going and keep fighting."
In a battle of qualifiers, American Christina McHale defeated Taipei's Kai-Chen Chang, 3-6, 6-0, 6-2. Maria Kirilenko, who upset Sharapova at the Australian Open in January, beat qualifier Mirjana Lucic of Croatia, 6-1, 6-4.
No data found
|