TIL Desk Sports/ Three-time champion Maria Sharapova came back from a set down to defeat Slovakia’s Dominika Cibulkova 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 and advance to the third round of the Italian Open.
After a three-set win over 18th-ranked Australian Ashleigh Barty in the first round, Sharapova on Wednesday needed two and a half hours to overcome the Slovak World No. 34 in a match filled with hard-fought rallies and loud grunts on virtually every shot.
Cibulkova struck the first blow, taking the first set against an opponent who was sloppy with her footwork and made a high number of unforced errors.
But the diminutive Slovak’s winning percentage on first-serve points dropped from 79 percent in the first set to 55 percent in the second set and just 53 percent in the third as Sharapova put her stamp on the match with her powerful return of serve and ground strokes. “I was really happy at the end of today’s match,” the 40th-ranked Sharapova was quoted as saying.
