Sharapova rallies to reach US Open third round
August 28, 2014
The fifth-seeded Russian, one of the day´s headliners along with Australian Open winner Stan Wawrinka and five-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams, kept the star-quotient up on a day that saw two-time defending women´s champion Serena Williams along with top men Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Andy Murray all having a day off.
Venus Williams was to open the night session, taking on Timea Bacsinszky for a place in the third round.
Wawrinka, the third seed from Switzerland, faced Brazil´s Thomaz Bellucci in one of two men´s second-round matches on the slate.
Sharapova, whose Roland Garros triumph was her fifth Grand Slam success, got off to a rocky start against Romania´s 95th-ranked Dulgheru, a former top 30 player who is trying to rebuild her career after missing a year of play after right knee surgery.
Sharapova was reluctant to blame the windy conditions in the cavernous Arthur Ashe Stadium court, but the blustery weather could have been a contributing factor to her 46 unforced errors.
However, after two hours and 26 minutes on court -- in a match that began in hot sunshine and ended with the floodlights coming on -- she had her 17th three-set win of the season, the most on the WTA tour.
"There was a little bit of everything today," Sharapova, the 2006 US Open winner, said. "As tricky as it is, you have to find a way to win."That´s something Agnieska Radwanska, once again at Flushing Meadows, couldn´t do.
