Maria Sharapova was left unconcerned by her second-set blip en route to a quarter-final victory over Coco Vandeweghe at Wimbledon, insisting there is no “easy road” to grand slam success.
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The 33-year-old American, aiming to win her fourth successive grand slam title and 21st in total, will face world No. 4 Sharapova on Thursday holding a 17-2 lead in their head to head record.
Back in 2008 Coco won the U.S. Open girls’ singles, and at the top level it’s great to see her having a deep run now.
Her mother Tauna, a real “60s child” according to Vandeweghe, who gave her four children nicknames Coco, Beau, Honey and Crash, was a ex- Olympic swimmer while her grandfather played for the New York Knicks in the ’50s.
“Obviously, being back in the situation of the fourth-round at Wimbledon, I tried to put all of my effort to get further”, said Sharapova, referring to her fourth-round loss to Angelique Kerber past year.
Vandeweghe would break back, but was then immediately broken again, and that is when Sharapova shut the door. “Now it’s just I’m here just to enjoy it. I think it’s actually making me play better, which is insane”.
“I mean, it is what it is”, Sharapova said. The 23-year-old American clearly was not daunted by the occassion, as impressively, she found some damaging serves, especially up the tee.
“Well, I haven’t seen the name on the trophy in a while ’cause I haven’t held the trophy in many years”, Sharapova said.
It is the first time three Americans have reached this stage since 2004 and they are joined in the quarter-finals by representatives from Belarus, Russia, Spain, Switzerland and Poland.
She further continued, “When I felt like it wasn’t being countered, that’s when I spoke with the umpire for her to deal with”, claiming that the official had disagreed and taken no action. But if there was an award for pedigree at this year’s Wimbledon, then Coco Vandeweghe may just take the prize. “She (Vandehwghe) was playing with a lot of confidence, she had nothing to lose”.
Vandeweghe, the only unseeded player in the last eight, showed plenty of grit, not least when breaking as Sharapova served for the match at 5-4 in the second set, whipping up Centre Court crowd in the process. It took her 50 minutes to finish the first set, but she edged out Diyas with brilliant first serves and a second break.
Vandeweghe admitted she was unaffected by the noise from her opponent. When the tougher, longer rallies happened, I was on the winning end of it more times than I wasn’t.
Still looking for a second Wimbledon title, Maria Sharapova has reached the quarterfinals at the All England Club.
Vandeweghe had never been past the third round of a Grand Slam before Wimbledon, while Keys made the semifinals of this year’s Australian Open before losing to Williams. “Definitely no secrets between each other’s games, ” she said. Stunning scenes on Centre Court, as we went to a decider.
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“Of course grass, it’s my favorite surface”, said Radwanska when asked why she is doing so much better than the beginning of the season. It will be the first Grand Slam semifinal for the 21-year-old Muguruza, who reached the quarterfinals at the last two French Opens.
