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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Maria Sharapova summoned up all her fight to reach the Wimbledon semis, holding off an inspired mid-match surge from CoCo Vandeweghe in a Centre Court marathon. A player whose grandmother was Miss America in 1952 kept alive the family showbusiness tradition by whirling her arms to whip the crowd into a lather.
Vandeweghe said: “Sharapova was moving around in the middle of my motion on my second serve“.
“I was pretty dominant in the first and early in the second set but things slipped away”, said the five-times grand slam champion.
“I felt from her moving around in between my serving motion was not sportsmanlike in my opinion”.
“When I felt like it wasn’t being reciprocated, that’s when I spoke with the umpire for her to deal with”, she said, adding that the official had disagreed and taken no action.
It wasn’t plain sailing for the world number four, as she took two hours and 45 minutes to come through in three sets.
Ultimately, it was Sharapova’s greater discipline, striking back at Vandeweghe after she had rallied to prevail in an unlikely second-set tiebreak, which proved the decisive factor.
Overall, Serena leads Azarenka 16-3 and has never lost to her in a Grand Slam event, despite Azarenka’s pushing her to three sets in the 2012 and 2013 USA Open finals.
“I don’t feel like I have any pressure going into this match”.
Williams has refused to talk during Wimbledon about the possibility of her winning the calendar grand slam, but claims she is particularly risky this year, having already achieved more than anyone else on tour.
The Russian diva had got off the afternoon’s rollercoaster ride unscathed, making her first Wimbledon semifinals in four years. I really felt confident.
Vandeweghe took the fourth round contest to match point with an ace, then won it with an unreturned serve.
Vandeweghe, who had not advanced beyond the third round of a major prior to this quarter-final, was finding the lines with a fearless self-assurance and bathing in the crowd’s rapturous acclaim as she did so. It will be the first Grand Slam semifinal for the 21-year-old Muguruza, who reached the quarterfinals at the last two French Opens.
On court Tuesday: Serena Williams vs. Azarenka, Sharapova vs. Vandeweghe, Radwanska vs. Keys, Bacsinszky vs Muguruza in the women’s quarterfinals; resumption of Djokovic vs. Anderson in the men’s fourth round.
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