Zheng Jie conquers Maria Sharapova in Indian Wells third round

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Wilson Blade 9

Seed No.18 Zheng Jie overcame tenth seed Maria Sharapova 6-3 2-6 6-3 after two hours and 43 minutes of topsy-turvy marathon in the third round of the BNP Paribas Open.

Sharapova made 14 double faults, 62 unforced errors and was broken seven times during the match. Zheng broke Sharapova’s serve three times in the first set, then the Russian leveled after the second set which lasted one hour and eight minutes, and finally, Zheng came back from 3-1 down in the decider to win the match.

She’s like a ball machine. She hits a lot of balls back, hits them hard and deep. I should have done a much better job on her serve because that is definitely one of her weaker parts of the game,” said the world No.13 Sharapova, who received treatment for her right elbow during the match.

The 26-year-old Chinese, a surprise semifinalist at this year’s Australian Open, will next play Australian wildcard Alicia Molik.

7 COMMENTS

  1. I stayed up late to watch it and it was so worth it. Zheng was playing fantastically out there, she moved Sharapova all over the court. She is a real fighter and proved herself yet again. I can see her cracking top ten this year if she keeps it up.

  2. Jie Zheng is very good player because she doesn´t allow emotions to go into her game. Ana should learn from her a bit 😉

  3. I am shocked that Sharapova would be talking about someone’s serve being the weakest part of their game seeing as how she has been stinking up the joint for the past 4 years with numerous double faults – yesterday she hit 14 double faults and in her previous match she hit 12. During all that time she hit 1 ace. If anyone has a weak serve it is Sharapova and Jheng took full advantage of it by cracking return winners off it and taking control of the points from the get go. Good win by her and hopes she goes far in this tournie.

  4. TennisAce, I think Sharapova didn’t criticize Zheng’s serve, she was rather talking about her tactics. And if you have a weak serve, why wouldn’t you be allowed to say that someone else’s serve is weak as well. And plus, I remember Sharapova’s serve was one of her assets before the injury.

  5. Maria is a spent force,she will never be the same.She has not been beyond third rd at big events in a long time.Anyone that can run down balls and keep her on the move can win,soon or later she is going to get tired.

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