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Post by Admin on Nov 15, 2015 1:08:43 GMT
Maria Sharapova won her first ever meeting with Karolina Pliskova 6-3, 6-4 to hit back for Russia in the Fed Cup final against holders Czech Republic in Prague on Saturday. World number six Petra Kvitova earlier came back from a set down to beat 28th-ranked Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova on the hardcourt O2 Arena 2-6, 6-1, 6-1 as the champions took a 1-0 lead. Big hitters Sharapova, the world number four, and 11th-ranked Pliskova traded breaks halfway through the first set but the Russian, playing only her fifth Fed Cup tie, added another in game eight to outpower her rival. The 23-year-old Pliskova broke Sharapova early in the second set, but Sharapova, 28, broke back twice to win the set as Pliskova squandered three break points in game eight. "I was nervous throughout the whole match and made some errors at inappropriate times but overall I'm just really happy that I could win," said Sharapova, a five-time Grand Slam winner. "I didn't serve my best and that's something that I'll definitely need to improve for tomorrow," added Sharapova, who collected nine double faults in the rubber. The first rubber got underway following a minute's silence for the victims of Friday's Paris terror attacks. Kvitova got off to a stumbling start, piling up unforced errors and serving poorly.
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Post by Admin on Nov 16, 2015 2:23:09 GMT
Maria Sharapova came from a set down to defeat Petra Kvitova in the first reverse singles on Sunday to give Russia a 2-1 lead over defending champion Czech Republic in the Fed Cup final. In a matchup of two top 10 players, the fourth-ranked Sharapova rallied to a 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 victory over the sixth-ranked Kvitova to put Russia one win away from its first Fed Cup title since 2008. In the second reverse singles, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova takes on Karolina Pliskova who needs to win to keep the Czechs in the best-of-five series. Sharapova went 5-2 up in the final set before closing out with a forehand winner. "Personally, it's an incredible achievement for me because I've never been in the Fed Cup final," Sharapova said. "And I won two of my matches."
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Post by Admin on Nov 18, 2015 23:57:12 GMT
Maria Sharapova failed to win the Fed Cup as Russia lost to defending champions Czech Republic in Prague, but she did her patriotic duty and said she enjoyed it. World No4 Sharapova won both singles matches, beating 11th-ranked Karolina Pliskova in straight sets on Saturday and sixth-ranked Petra Kvitova in a three-set thriller on Sunday. “Personally it’s an incredible achievement for me because I’ve never been in a Fed Cup final and I won two of my matches,” Sharapova said. After winning five majors, Sharapova is still seeking two other global trophies – the Fed Cup and Olympic gold. “There’s no better feeling than being out on the court having so many people fly here from Russia to support you,” said Sharapova who has lived in Florida since she was seven. “In an event like this you’re just not playing for yourself, you’re playing for your team-mates, for your country. It’s a very unique feeling and it’s so special.”
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Post by Admin on Nov 28, 2015 2:07:19 GMT
Garbine Muguruza has called Maria Sharapova’s grunting during matches just too “loud.” The 22-year-old, who was recently honoured with Royal Order of Sports Merit, said Sharapova’s grunts were loud enough to cause her distraction. “Sometimes, Sharapova shouts loud enough that it seems that the ball goes faster,” Muguruza said in an interview with Hormiguero TV Show. “Often, she does it to intimidate us, her screams distract me, even I do it, but I don’t shout loud enough like her.” An article about grunting in tennis featured on Shape.com said that the noise that female tennis players make on the tennis court serves a purpose. The shrieks that the players make when they hit a ball “mask the sound of the echo of the ball that can give opponents an aural cue of where it is headed.” Some of the female tennis players who grunt during matches, in addition to Sharapova, are Williams sisters - Serena and Venus, and former top-ranked Belarusian player Victoria Azarenka.
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