The conditions were blustery in Arthur Ashe Stadium, but for Maria Sharapova the wind was blowing in the right direction. The Russian was in top form, allowing her opponent Dally Randriantefy only one game the entire match.
At 6-feet, 1-inch, Sharapova towered over her 5-foot, 5-inch opponent, but Randriantefy was quick on her feet and smacked the ball hard. She didn’t seem intimidated by Sharapova’s touted reputation and delivered a variety of shots that kept the young Russian scrambling around the court.
By keeping the 18-year-old running from corner to corner, Randriantefy could score a few much-needed winners. But the moment Sharapova was back in control, she was impossible to beat.
Sharapova closed out the first set in 25 minutes and began the second in similarly one-sided fashion. Randriantefy struggled in vain to keep up but couldn’t rise above her unforced errors—she ended up with twice as many as Sharapova. Meanwhile, the Russian hardly seemed to break a sweat and finished the match off in just 48 minutes.
Randriantefy and Sharapova are both enjoying groundbreaking seasons but at very different levels. The young Russian vaulted into the world No. 1 spot last week, becoming the first Russian woman to do so. Randriantefy, meanwhile, just broke into the top 50 for the first time in her career.
August 31st, 2005
Posted by: Marco
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