Sharapova makes smooth progress in Rome
Thu May 12, 2005 5:17 PM ET
By James Eve
ROME (Reuters) - Top seed Maria Sharapova progressed
smoothly into the quarter-finals of the Rome Masters
with a 7-6 6-4 win over Mary Pierce on Thursday.
In the other half of the draw, defending champion
Amelie Mauresmo did just enough to edge out Italy's
Silvia Farina Elia 6-4 6-3 to set up a clash with
four-times former Rome winner Conchita Martinez.
Pierce presented a tough prospect for Sharapova,
whose game has rarely sparkled on clay.
The Russian had never gone beyond the last eight
in her previous six tournaments on the surface and
was facing a claycourt expert who won the Rome title
in 1997 and the 2000 French Open.
Sharapova started aggressively, firing groundstrokes
deep into the Frenchwoman's court in an attempt to
close out each point as quickly as possible.
Pierce fended off six break points before a long
backhand put the Russian 4-2 up in the sixth game.
Pierce conjured up a winning serve return and a drive
volley to prevent Sharapova serving out for the set
at 5-3, but a pair of netted groundstrokes gave the
Russian a double mini-break she needed to close out
the tiebreak.
Sharapova again came out on top of a see-saw opening
to the second set, which included five consecutive
breaks of serve. She finished off by lashing a winner
down the line.
"She (Pierce) is always a dangerous opponent. She's
got a big serve and good groundstrokes and she knows
how to play on this surface," Sharapova said.
"But this year I've got a lot more confidence. I'm a
completely different player."
The early exits of her highly-ranked compatriots Elena
Dementieva and Svetlana Kuznetsova have left the draw
wide open for Sharapova, who will wrestle the world
number one ranking from Lindsay Davenport if she
triumphs in Rome this week.
"That would be an amazing feeling, but I'm just taking
it one match at a time," said the second seed.
"This is only my second claycourt tournament of the year
and I'm trying not to think too much about the expectations."
She next faces ninth seed Elena Bovina, who battled past
Argentina's Paola Suarez 3-6 6-3 7-6.
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