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| Maria Sharapova |
Maria Sharapova overcame a shaky start and survived a spirited fightback from Patty Schnyder to defeat the Swiss veteran 6-2 7-6(6) in the first round of the U.S. Open on Tuesday.
Five-times Grand Slam champion Sharapova, who won at Flushing Meadows in 2006, struggled with her serve at times in the opening set but Schnyder failed to take full advantage.
The Swiss retired from tennis after being beaten in the first round of the French Open in 2011 but returned in 2015 and last week became the oldest woman qualifier to reach the main draw of a Grand Slam at the age of 39 years and eight months.
She was handed an early break by Sharapova after the Russian made three double faults in her opening service game, but double faulted on break point on her own serve to hand the initiative straight back.
With the first four service games all broken, Sharapova held for the first time to take a 3-2 lead and, having got her nose in front, found both her rhythm and serve and began dictating play from the baseline.
The 22nd seed wrapped up the first set in 40 minutes and was leading 5-1 in the second before Schnyder embarked on a remarkable rally.
Schnyder started to take the pace off the ball to gain a greater degree of control and the approach paid dividends as Sharapova’s error count mounted.
The Russian, who hit 22 winners but made 46 unforced errors, needed four match points to end Schnyder’s resistance as the match went to a tiebreak, eventually sealing victory with a powerful forehand winner.
“I started making a lot of mistakes,” Sharapova said. “She became really consistent. I think I just really wanted to finish it off and was just giving her a lot of free looks.
“I still have a lot of things to work on.”
Sharapova next faces Romanian Sorana Cirstea, who she expects to come hard and fast at her.
“She’s someone that plays extremely aggressive,” Sharapova said. “Sometimes you don’t really know what you’re going to get in a matchup like that.
“But for me I think just stepping away from who I’m playing, zoning in on what I need to improve on, that will be my focus. There’s quite a few things.”
Women’s Singles
Results: Day 2
No. 2 Caroline Wozniacki def. Samantha Stosur, 6-3, 6-2
No. 3 Angelique Kerber def. Margarita Gasparyan, 7-6(5), 6-3
No. 5 Petra Kvitova def. Yanina Wickmayer, 6-1, 6-4
No. 6 Caroline Garcia def. Johanna Konta, 6-2, 6-2
No. 10 Jelena Ostapenko def. Andrea Petkovic, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5
No. 11 Daria Kasatkina def. Timea Babos, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4
No. 13 Kiki Bertens def. Kristyna Pliskova, 6-0, 7-5
No. 14 Madison Keys def. Pauline Parmentier, 6-4, 6-4
No. 20 Naomi Osaka def. Laura Siegemund, 6-3, 6-2
No. 22 Maria Sharapova def. Patty Schnyder, 6-2, 7-6(6)
Kirsten Flipkens def. No. 24 CoCo Vandeweghe, 6-3, 7-6(3)
No. 26 Aryna Sabalenka def. Danielle Collins, 6-0, 4-6, 6-4
Katerina Siniakova def. No. 28 Anett Kontaveit, 6-7(3), 6-3, 7-5
No. 29 Dominika Cibulkova def. Arantxa Rus, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3
No. 30 Carla Suarez Navarro def. Nicole Gibbs, 5-7, 6-3, 6-4
Yafan Wang def. Anna Karolina Schmiedlova, 6-1, 3-6, 6-4
Julia Glushko def. Monica Niculescu, 3-6, 7-5, 6-4
Ajla Tomljanovic def. Lizeette Cabrera, 6-4, 6-1
Bernarda Pera def. Yulia Putintseva, 7-6(6), 6-4
Aliaksandra Sasnovich def. Belinda Bencic, 2-6, 6-1, 6-2
Monica Puig def. Stefanie Voegele, 6-0, 6-0
Aleksandra Krunic def. Timea Bacsinszky, 6-2, 3-6, 6-0
Taylor Townsend def. Amanda Anisimova, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3
Sorana Cirstea def. Alison Riske, 6-3, 3-6, 7-5
Francesca Di Lorenzo def. Christina McHale, 6-1, 7-6(1)
Eugenie Bouchard def. Harmony Tan, 6-3, 6-1
Johanna Larsson def. Alize Cornet, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2
Lesia Tsurenko def. Alison Van Uytvanck, 6-3, 6-2
Su-Wei Hsieh def. Ekaterina Alexandrova, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3
Vera Zvonareva def. Anna Blinkova, 6-2, 6-7(6), 7-5
Kristina Mladenovic def. Tamara Zidansek, 6-0, 6-3
Schedule: Day 3 Wednesday
No. 3 Sloane Stephens vs. Anhelina Kalinina
No. 7 Elina Svitolina vs. Tatjana Maria
No. 8 Karolina Pliskova vs. Ana Bogdan
No. 9 Julia Goerges vs. Ekaterina Makarova
No. 12 Garbine Muguruza vs. Karolina Muchova
No. 15 Elise Mertens vs. Vera Lapko
No. 16 Venus Williams vs. Camila Giorgi
No. 17 Serena Williams vs. Carina Witthoeft
No. 18 Ashleigh Barty vs. Lucie Safarova
No. 19 Anastasija Sevastova vs. Claire Liu
No. 23 Barbora Strycova vs. Lara Arruabarrena
No. 25 Daria Gavrilova vs. Victoria Azarenka
No. 32 Maria Sakkari vs. Sofia Kenin
Kaia Kanepi vs. JIl Teichmann
Qiang Wang vs. Irina-Camelia Begu
Vania King vs. Rebecca Peterson
