Second seed Maria Sharapova won two matches on Thursday, one of which lasted for three days, and she continued with winning on Friday to reach the semifinals of the AEGON Classic, the tournament she has won two times.
Sharapova first beat Bethanie Mattek-Sands in the second round, in a match greatly affected by rain, then she defeated fellow Russian Alla Kudryavtseva 6-3 6-1 (their first encounter after Kudryavtseva upset Sharapova in the second round of Wimbledon and later on stated how she got the extra motivation from hating Sharapova’s outfit), and today she has eliminated Sesil Karatantcheva, who had upset tenth seed and defending champion Magdalena Rybarikova in the previous round.
In her seventh successive semifinal at the tournament, Sharapova will face 185th-ranked qualifier Alison Riske of the United States. The 19-year-old Riske is an interesting opponent because she came to Birmingham without even one main draw victory on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, but at the 2010 AEGON Classic she first upset 9th seed Aleksandra Wozniack, then Anna Chakvetadze, and then third seed Yanina Wickmayer in the quarterfinals. (photos by Richard and © Neal Trousdale)
guys did you notice that masha hasnt got her prince exo3 racket?
It will be interesting to see her approach to a relative unknown. Knowing Maria she will go for the kill quick, but I wonder if she will have a hard time getting up for match with Riske?
Alla Kudryavtseva has a really cool personality and was only making a joke about Maria’s dress. Isn’t it time that the media recognizes the fact that they have been had?
Hi John, thank you for this comment and the email you sent me. It’s great you gave us insight into Alla’s real personality and told us her comment about Maria’s dress has been overblown by the media. I believed she was serious about it, but now I believe you, and I will no longer allude to that statement of Alla.
Alla was just so lucky to be able to defeat Maria at wimbledon 2008. Maria is a very impressive player. She’s never take retired from the match just because some injury execute. she always gave her opponent the chance to finish the game and won that game if they can afford. She is the champion.