Wimbledon - Women: Sharapova eases through

Eurosport - Tue, 23 Jun 11:51:00 2009

Russia's Maria Sharapova gathered her poise after a slow start to claim a 7-5 6-4 victory over Ukrainian qualifier Viktoriya Kutuzova and a place in the second round at Wimbledon.

Maria Sharapova of Russia celebrates winning the first set during her match against Viktoriya Kutuzova of Ukraine at Wimbledon REUTERS - 0

Sharapova, ranked 60th in the world but given a special seeding of 24, slumped to a quick 4-1 deficit in the opening set but saved a set point and bounced back to seal the opener.

Kutuzova, the world number 79, pushed Sharapova hard in their first tour meeting but the Russian prevailed on her first match point when the Ukrainian netted a forehand.

Sharapova, the 2004 winner, will face Gisela Dulko for a place in the third round, after the Argentina beat Frenchwoman Stephanie Foretz 7-5 6-3.

Russian fourth seed Elena Dementieva cruised through to the second round with a comfortable 6-4 6-1 win over compatriot Alla Kudryavtseva. Dementieva will face Aravane Rezai next, after the Frenchwoman emerged a comfortable 6-2 6-2 winner over Japan's Ayumi Morita.

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, the 31st seed, also eased into the second round, downing Czech Petra Cetkovska 6-2 6-2 for the first result of the day. The Russian will face Italian Roberta Vinci, who beat Slovak Magdalena Rybarikova 6-3 6-2.

Tenth seed Nadia Petrova and Alisa Kleybanova, seeded 27th, continued the good run of results for Russia, both enjoying straight sets wins.

Petrova demolished Belarus's Anastasiya Yakimova 6-1 6-1 and will next face Israel's Shahar Peer, who beat Maria Elena Camerin 6-2 7-6(3), while Kleybanova downed Kazakhstan's Sesil Karatantcheva 6-2 7-5, and will play another Russian Regina Kulikova, after the qualifier knocked out former quarter-finalist Karolina Sprem 4-6 7-5 6-3.

American Serena Williams barged her way into the second round with a 6-1 7-5 victory over Portuguese qualifier Neuza Silva.

The second seed, seeking her third title at the All England Club, looked far from her most fluent against a 26-year-old making her first appearance in a Grand Slam, but had plenty in hand as she wrapped up victory in 74 minutes.

Silva gave away the opener in tame fashion but found her feet in the second, Serena making the crucial and only break in the 12th and final game when her inexperienced opponent netted a backhand.

Williams will now face Jarmila Groth for a place in the third round, after the Australian beat former Grand Slam quarter-finalist Lucie Safarova 6-3 3-6 6-3.

Canadian 23rd seed Aleksandra Wozniak, a semi-finalist at Eastbourne last week, crashed out of the tournament, falling 4-6 6-4 6-4 to stubborn Francesca Schiavone.

The Italian will next face Portuguese 16-year-old Michelle Larcher de Brito, who has drawn criticism for her loud screaming during matches, booked her place in the second round with a 6-2 7-5 win over Klara Zakopalova.

Belarussian ninth seed Victoria Azarenka and France's Virginie Razzano progressed coutesy of injury with Severine Bremond Beltrame and Tamara Paszek respectively unable to complete their matches.

French 12th seed Marion Bartoli recorded a double bagel 6-0 6-0 win over Chan Yung-Jan, while Slovakia's 14th seed and French Open semi-finalist Dominika Cibulkova beat France's Julie Coin 6-4 3-6 6-3.

Romanian duo Sorana Cirstea, seeded 28th, and Ioana Raluca Olaru booked their place in the second round with wins over Edina Gallovits and Nathalie Dechy, while India's Sania Mirza progressed at the expense of German Anna-Lena Groenefeld.

Swiss 14th seed Patty Schnyder was sent crashing out of the tournament, losing 6-4 6-4 to Japanese veteran Ai Sugiyama, while Switzerland's Timea Bacsinszky progressed with a 6-1 4-6 8-6 win over Russian Vesna Manasieva.

American Jill Craybas and Elena Vesnina had little trouble in reaching the second round with straight sets wins over Tsetana Pironkova and Yanina Wickmayer respectively, and they were joined by Poland's Urszula Radwanska, who downed Slovenia's Masa Zec Peskiric 6-3 6-3.

Reuters

Comment 13 - 32 of 32

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  1. Chemical Ali,

    I expect the heading in the papers­ tomorrow will be: "Sharapova grunts and sweats en­ route to Kutuzova subsmission in thrilling girl on girl­ action"

    From James D, on Tue 23 Jun 2:40AM

  2. My gran just texted me to say that BALL GAGGING would­ solve the grunting fiasco

    From Chemical Ali, on Tue 23 Jun 1:22AM

  3. I WAD SHEG THAS BATCH.

    From Donney, on Tue 23 Jun 12:05AM

  4. tuscan10113,

    She might know less than Maria about­ politics but I'm confident Palin could do porn!

    From James D, on Mon 22 Jun 11:23PM

  5. James, "which admittedly might be absolutely­ nothing." might? i think there can be no doubt­ about this. It seems she has been to 3 (three)­ countries, kuwait (visiting troops) germany (visiting­ injured troops) and Ireland. (probably thought ireland­ has moose or was looking for injured troops). she got­ her first passport in 2007 (fact!).

    Maria on the­ other hand has obviously traveled extensively,­ comparing maternity wards all over the world, and­ recording her inimitable vocal skills for overdubs for­ high-class porn movies in asia and south america. i­ think this proves which one is best suited for getting­ us out of the economic crisis we (and by inference:­ tennis ) find ourselves in.

    From , on Mon 22 Jun 11:18PM

  6. tuscan10113,

    She can probably see Palin in Alaska and­ probably waves to her. Sharapova also knows at least as­ much as Palin does about foreign policy and the­ bail-out...which admittedly might be absolutely­ nothing.

    From James D, on Mon 22 Jun 10:59PM

  7. James, true, and if Maria can give the gift of life­ while struggling in a tie break, why not put her ­ moose-shooting skills to use when arguing with the­ umpire over a contentious ruling.

    And since she's­ originally Russian, could we not spin the Palin thread­ further still, wasn't Sarah proud of her view of­ Sharapova's fatherland from the comfort of her­ Alaskan tennis court? it's all coming together...

    From , on Mon 22 Jun 10:46PM

  8. tuscan10113,

    Well if Sarah Palin can give birth and­ then head off straight to work why not Sharapova­ unleash a bun on centre court en route to winning in­ straight sets?

    From James D, on Mon 22 Jun 10:34PM

  9. nice headline, and you're right: my proposal is­ unlikely. Then again, Sharapova, her dress and gutteral­ sounds would have been pretty unlikely on­ Wimbledon's well tended lawns a few years ago :-)

    From , on Mon 22 Jun 10:26PM

  10. tuscan10113,

    that seems pretty unlikely. I can imagine­ the following title though: "Sharapova and­ Ivanovic climax together in thrilling finale"

    From Typical Chav, on Mon 22 Jun 9:25PM

  11. "Her coach & midwife, Yuri Sharapov, helped­ Maria give birth to a healthy baby at the start of the­ second set. Sharapova, the 2004 winner, will face­ Gisela Dulko for a place in the third round, during­ which is has announced plans to give birth to­ twins"

    From , on Mon 22 Jun 9:22PM

  12. tuscan10113,

    How about "Sharapova comes home in­ thrilling climax",­ phwoooarrrrr....gawwwwwddddd.....ohhhhh...gawdddd

    From Typical Chav, on Mon 22 Jun 9:15PM

  13. surely "Sharapova eases through" is a rather­ unfortunate way of putting it? I can't imagine her­ "easing through" anything. More like­ "Sharapova screams and orgasms her way­ through"

    From , on Mon 22 Jun 9:06PM
  14. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    MURRAY WILL WIN A SLAM . . . .

    HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR­ HAR HIC HAR HIC . . .

    er . . .

    From JEEMS, on Mon 22 Jun 7:30PM

  15. maria the gruntometer!!!!!

    From mh_lionel, on Mon 22 Jun 6:42PM

  16. Gr8 to see maria back, and fit but that game wasn't­ easy, she has some tougher components to play before­ she gets any where near the final, she better not think­ she will get through that easily. she needs to­ concentrate because some of th players are strong with­ gr8 history (William's sisters) :-D

    From cevans12, on Mon 22 Jun 6:30PM

  17. noireen never wears her glasses in the BB house­ cheating cow

    From Ciaran, on Mon 22 Jun 5:49PM
  18. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    noireen never wears her glasses in the BB house­ cheating cow

    From Ciaran, on Mon 22 Jun 5:48PM

  19. OHOOO 4 THUMBSUPS THUS FAR

    From saeed, on Mon 22 Jun 5:11PM

  20. it was certainly not easy, i watched the match, the­ other girl was great but not experienced.

    From jelena, on Mon 22 Jun 5:10PM
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