Tennis: Sharapova into Beijing’s last-16

Sharapova beat Romania’s Sorana Cirstea 6-2, 6-2.

BEIJING: World number two Maria Sharapova made light work of her second-round match at the China Open in Beijing, beating Romania’s Sorana Cirstea 6-2, 6-2. “I thought I served really well today, much better than the first round,” said Sharapova. “She is someone that likes to be aggressive, get the first shot and hit it really hard. I was happy I took her time away. It was important to try to take that away from her.” The 25-year-old will face Slovenia’s Polona Hercog, 90th in the rankings, in the third round. Elsewhere, there was a shock in the last 16 when Romina Oprandi beat former world number one Ana Ivanovic 6-4, 6-3 to progress to the quarter-finals. Ivanovic’s compatriot Jelena Jankovic was also knocked out, losing to Spain’s Carla Suarez Navarro 7-5, 6-4.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 4^th, 2012.