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Sharapova, Mauresmo Into 3rd Round at Wimbledon
Posted on June 29, 2007
The rain held off Thursday and the title contenders cruised as Maria Sharapova and Amelie Mauresmo registered easy wins to move into the third round at Wimbledon.
Sharapova crushed Severine Bremond 6-0, 6-3, while Mauresmo cruised past Yvonne Meusburger 6-1, 6-2.
"Once again, I'm just going through my matches the way I want to in a relaxed and positive way," said the defending champ Mauresmo. "I thought I started my first match well and today was not so bad. But the serve is something I definitely need to work on...Even though the serve wasn't working so well, I could really follow it to the net, as I always do on grass. It's pretty effective normally for me on grass."
Sharapova weathered a difficult second set after a 6-0 first set.
"She's a very tough grasscourt player -- she has good slices, serves, volleys, and that's clearly what she did last year to get to the quarterfinals," Sharapova said. "In the past when I'd play that kind of opponent, I probably wasn't patient enough. I used to go for too much off the slices then try to win the point as quickly as I could. That's one of the things that I've definitely improved."
Other Top 10-seeded winners Thursday were (5) Svetlana Kuznetsova (d. Mattek), (6) Ana Ivanovic (d. Tu), (8) Anna Chakvetadze (d. Poutchek), and (10) Daniela Hantuchova (d. Likhovtseva), all in straight sets.
Six seeds were uprooted on the day in winners Akiko Morigami (d. (13) Safina), Tamira Paszek (d. (17) Golovin in three), Victoria Azarenka (d. (21) Garbin), Aravane Rezai (d. (29) Schiavone in three), and Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska (d. (32) Muller who retired with injury).
"I just tried to focus on my game and was very aggressive," said Morigami after ousting Safina. "I didn't feel I was playing a No. 13 seed. I know she is a really, really good player but I have been playing Top 10 players well."
Other seeded winners on the day were (11) Nadia Petrova (d. Mirza), (12) Elena Dementieva (d. Benesova), (14) Nicole Vaidisova (d. Pratt), (15) Patty Schnyder (d. Vinci in three), (19) Katarina Srebotnik (d. Ozegovic), (23) Venus Williams (d. Sromova), (24) Alona Bondarenko (d. Szavay), (25) Lucie Safarova (d. Daniilidou in three), (26) Ai Sugiyama (d. Cornet in three), (28) Mara Santangelo (d. Wozniacki), and (31) Michaella Krajicek (d. O'Brien 0-and-1).
"I'm constantly looking to go up another level -- it's important to expect something from yourself," Venus Williams said. "I think my serve is pretty dynamic right now. It's definitely winning me lots of points. I feel like my return is nice. I feel like I am moving well. I have a good base to just keep playing aggressively on."
Friday's highlights include Milagros Sequera vs. (7) Serena Williams, (3) Jelena Jankovic vs. (25) Lucie Safarova, (1) Justine Henin vs. Elena Vesnina, (9) Martina Hingis vs. Laura Granville, (10) Daniela Hantuchova vs. (19) Katarina Srebotnik, and (31) Michaella Krajicek vs. (8) Anna Chakvetadze.
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