Maria Sharapova reached the quarter-finals for the first time in four years but not before being pushed harder than expected by Zarina Diyas of Kazakhstan. The 2004 winner found the world No34 a gutsy competitor and had to come from 3-1 down in the second set to record a 6-4, 6-4 victory.
It was not vintage Sharapova but, after losing in the fourth round in two of the past three years, the 28-year-old will just be thankful for getting through. The 21-year-old Diyas, who reached the fourth round on her Wimbledon debut last year, showed no sign of nerves on the big stage and when she led 3-1 in the third it seemed it might even go to a decider. But Sharapova turned it around and has yet to drop a set.
“I lost at this stage last year so I was extremely happy to win and go a round further,” said Sharapova, who in the last eight on Tuesday will play the unseeded American Coco Vandeweghe, a 7-6, 7-6 winner over the French Open runner-up Lucie Safarova.
“My opponent is a really good grass-court player, she stays really low and hits the ball hard, so I really had to be ready for all of her shots. I wanted to start the tournament strong and I think I’ve done that well but it’s only going to get tougher from here.”
The Kazakh, coached by Alan Ma, the coach of China’s Olympic team and based in Guangzhou, had beaten Germany’s Andrea Petkovic in the previous round and she troubled Sharapova from the start with her flat ground strokes, hit on the rise, and her excellent movement around the court. Not for the first time in the tournament, Sharapova also struggled on serve, double-faulting twice in the first game and seven times in total.
But, as so often, the Russian’s fighting spirit and unquestionable resolve got the job done. After letting slip a 5-2 lead to 5-4, she broke again to take the first set only to fall behind early in the second. But a good hold for 2-3 got her back on track and she won four of the next five games to seal a hard-earned victory.
