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Sharapova Shines In Acapulco Debut

2015-02-23 12:15:00 | スポーツ

http://www.abiertomexicanodetenis.com/noticias/

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Maria Sharapova made a winning start to her Abierto Mexicano TELCEL campaign on Monday, recovering from a slow start to beat a WTA Rising Star in straight sets.

Published February 23, 2015 12:15

ACAPULCO, México - Maria Sharapova made a winning start to her Abierto Mexicano TELCEL campaign on Monday night, recovering from a slow start to beat WTA Rising Star Shelby Rogers.

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Rogers, one of the four players who made it to the WTA Rising Stars Invitational in Singapore last year, came out swinging, breaking in the first game of the match and, after holding serve in the next game, even getting to double break point in Sharapova's next service game, on the verge of a 3-0 lead.

But the No.1-seeded Sharapova shifted gears in a big way from there, holding that game, breaking back for 3-all and eventually cruising the rest of the way to win in an hour and 14 minutes, 6-4, 6-1.

Sharapova finished the match particularly strong - she won the last seven points in a row.

"I've been in many different situations in my career, and when you're down, you have to change a few things and stay positive," Sharapova said. "You just have to concentrate on one point at a time instead of the bigger result, and as the match went on I definitely felt more and more comfortable out there.

"I felt really good and really happy to perform here in front of all the fans for the first time."

Sharapova was asked whether the slow start could have been from the new conditions, too.

"Your first match at a new tournament is never easy," Sharapova commented. "You're getting used to all of the conditions, a new place and a new atmosphere. You're also adjusting your game a little bit. The court here is quite different to the surfaces I've competed on so far this year, and the ball goes through the air because it's much warmer. You can train in new conditions as many days as you want, but it's when you go out and play an actual match when the real adjustment comes into play.

"I'm looking forward to improving as the week goes on. My opponents will get tougher and tougher."

Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Monica Puig moved into the second round too. Puig, one of the leading WTA Rising Stars and Latin America's No.1, beat Tereza Smitkova, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.

The last match of the day saw the only surprise of the day, with María-Teresa Torró-Flor rallying from 5-3 down in both the second and third sets to take out No.8 seed Madison Brengle, 2-6, 7-5, 7-5.

Earlier in the day, Lucie Hradecka, Richel Hogenkamp, Elena Bogdan and Louisa Chirico made it into the main draw of the International-level tournament with wins in the final round of qualifying.