Germany’s tennis star Angelique Kerber just needed 64 minutes to eliminate Maria Sharapova in the third round of the Australian Open 2018 on Rod Lover Arena. She won straight by 6-1, 6-3 scores.
Kerber was not the easiest opponent to cross in the third round. Down to the 21st seed, after being first at the beginning of the year, because of a very bland 2017 season, the left handed German returned to form in this year. She won her first title since the US Open 2016 before the Australian Open this month.
“I have so many good memories in this court. I know Maria is always fighting.” Kerber said after the match on Saturday night.
“After the first set, I was trying to not thinking about the score, just going for it, trying to be aggressive and playing my game. And it works. It works from the beginning. I’m happy about how I played tonight.
“I learned a lot from the last 12, 24 months. I had a great 2016 and last year was a little tougher. Anybody who knows me knows I never give up.” she added.
Sharapova was playing her second Grand Slam tournament since the end of her doping suspension last year. It was in Melbourne in January 2016 that she underwent a positive meldonium test and was banned for fifteen months.
The 30-year-old tennis player was not invited to Roland Garros and had to give up the Wimbledon qualifying due to her injury last spring. She also stopped in the round of 16 at the US Open.
Maria Sharapova was banned for fifteen months due to her positive doping. (Source:www.livetennis.com)
The Russian came to Australia Open in 48th seed after reduced season (8 tournaments played only) and her mixed results in 2017.
“I think she played very well. She was the more aggressive player. She took a lot more risks than I did. There’s a lot of things I need to improve on. This is a process. It’s a lot of things that take time.” Sharapova said.
“To be able to get these games, players that are playing this well, I’m going to face a lot of them this year. I’ll have to be bring it. Today was not enough.” Sharapova added.
In the next round, Kerber will play against between Polish’s Agnieszka Radwanska or Taiwanese’s Hsieh Su-Wei.
