|
Maria Sharapova celebrated her 200th career win at the DFS Classic today as she moved into the quarter finals at the Edgbaston Priory Club, Birmingham. The top seed and two-time defending champion defeated 13th seed Na Li of China 6-2,6-4 to reach the quarter finals for the fourth year in a row.
A sell out crowd of over 1,700 on centre court stayed to watch the Russian star despite the England football match being on at the same time.
“I have to thank all of the fans for staying to watch,” joked Sharapova afterwards. “I know there is a pretty important match on just now for you all, so that’s why I think it is about 80% women in the crowd. I think all the men must be at the pub watching the match.”
Sharapova was always in control of the 1 hour 15 mins match and now leads Li 3-0 in their head to head series.
“She is a tough solid player so I had to be ready from the beginning. She made me work, but I stayed tough,” said Sharapova. “I didn’t realise it was my 200th win, it seems like I’ve played for a long time, but over the next couple of years that number will go up for sure.”
Next up will be 12th seed Mara Santangelo, the world number 39 from Italy. This will be the first meeting between the pair.
“I haven’t seen much of her. She’s a solid player and a tall girl with a lot of flat groundstrokes. I’ll have to be patient and look for opportunities. She had a good win today so she must be playing well,” said Sharapova.
Leave a comment