Madrid Open: Sharapova Not Yet Worried About a Wimbledon Wild Card, Faces Bouchard Next
(May 7, 2017) Maria Sharapova advanced to the second round of the Madrid Open to set up a match against one of her harshest critics since returning her 15-month doping ban – Canadian Eugenie Bouchard recently called Sharapova a “cheater“.
Asked about Bouchard’s comments, Sharapova told media on Sunday: “I already commented about those comments from her last week. I’m sure the WTA would be happy to provide you a transcript of that.”
Last month Sharapova declined to comment on Bouchard, saying : “I don’t have anything to say. I am way above that.”
“I am past ‘the lessons,” she said. “I have done numerous interviews about the case, and this is a new chapter in my career.”
Sharapova defeated 17th seed Mirjana Lucic-Baroni 4-6, 6-4, 6-0 on Sunday.
“I’m not quite sure how to describe the match because it feels like it happened so fast,” said the Russian. “I thought she played really well. I was playing against, like, a human slingshot for a while there. Balls were coming so fast and deep. I mean, for a couple of sets, I don’t believe we had too many rallies over three balls.
“You know, I wasn’t really happy with my percentage of serve in the first couple of sets. I definitely improved that in the third. I think that really helped me. I got a better read on her serve, as well.
“You know, she goes for it. You have to be patient. Sometimes there’s not much you can do. Those are great shots, on the line. I mean, the breakpoints, I missed a couple of second-serve returns. That was obviously an error from my side.
“But she came up with some great winners. Just got to hand it to her.”
The five-time major champion said she is not yet worried about getting a wild card into Wimbledon.
“I mean, look, I would love to be in a position to compete in that event,” she said. “It’s very meaningful to me. But it’s just too far down the line right now.
“I feel like I’m like a broken record player, but these tournaments are really important. The match play that I have, getting myself in these situations, getting out of them, will ultimately help me for those big events whether I’m in there or not.
“I treat this tournament and the next one, and the ones that I will play, just as importantly as the other ones.
Sharapova will find out if she will get a wild card (should she need one) into Wimbledon on June 20th. Roland Garros will let the two-time winner know on May 16 if they will give her a wild card to compete.
The biggest upset on the day in Madrid came when fifth seed Garbine Muguruza lost to Timea Bacsinszky in straight sets.
Madrid Open
SCHEDULE – MONDAY, 8 MAY 2017
MANOLO SANTANA start 12:00 noon
WTA – A. Sevastova (LAT) vs [2] Ka. Pliskova (CZE)
Not Before 1:30 pm
WTA – [1] A. Kerber (GER) vs K. Siniakova (CZE) or [Q] P. Parmentier (FRA)
ATP – D. Ferrer (ESP) vs [Q] M. Kukushkin (KAZ)
Not Before 8:00 pm
WTA – E. Bouchard (CAN) vs [WC] M. Sharapova (RUS)
Not Before 9:30 pm
ATP – [Q] E. Escobedo (USA) vs F. Lopez (ESP)
ARANXTA SANCHEZ VICARIO start 12:00 noon
ATP – [12] G. Dimitrov (BUL) vs P. Kohlschreiber (GER)
ATP – [15] G. Monfils (FRA) vs G. Simon (FRA)
WTA – A. Riske (USA) vs [8] S. Kuznetsova (RUS)
WTA – [15] B. Strycova (CZE) or L. Safarova (CZE) vs [WC] L. Arruabarrena (ESP)
Not Before 8:00 pm
ATP – [Q] A. Kuznetsov (RUS) vs [10] J. Tsonga (FRA)
Not Before 9:30 pm
WTA – C. Suárez Navarro (ESP) or S. Peng (CHN) vs [10] C. Wozniacki (DEN)
ESTADIO 3 start 12:00 noon
ATP – [WC] G. Garcia-Lopez (ESP) vs [WC] M. Copil (ROU)
ATP – [11] T. Berdych (CZE) vs [Q] D. Istomin (UZB)
WTA – L. Davis (USA) vs [14] K. Mladenovic (FRA)
ATP – [16] N. Kyrgios (AUS) vs M. Baghdatis (CYP)
PISTA 4 start 12:00 noon
ATP – R. Haase (NED) vs D. Evans (GBR)
ATP – M. Granollers (ESP) vs F. Mayer (GER)
ATP – N. Mahut (FRA) vs [14] J. Sock (USA)
ATP – P. Kohlschreiber (GER) / D. Thiem (AUT) vs F. Fognini (ITA) / T. Huey (PHI)
PISTA 5 start 12:00 noon
WTA – [WC] J. Konta (GBR) / S. Rogers (USA) vs [5] T. Babos (HUN) / A. Hlavackova (CZE)
ATP – O. Marach (AUT) / M. Pavic (CRO) vs F. Mergea (ROU) / A. Qureshi (PAK)
ATP – [Q] T. Bellucci (BRA) vs P. Cuevas (URU)
ATP – [LL] J. Donaldson (USA) vs [Q] A. Mannarino (FRA)
WTA – K. Bertens (NED) / J. Larsson (SWE) vs S. Kuznetsova (RUS) / K. Mladenovic (FRA)
PISTA 6 start 12:00 noon
WTA – H. Chan (TPE) / J. Ostapenko (LAT) vs G. Dabrowski (CAN) / Y. Xu (CHN)
WTA – S. Stosur (AUS) / S. Zhang (CHN) vs D. Gavrilova (AUS) / A. Pavlyuchenkova (RUS)
ATP – M. Matkowski (POL) / A. Peya (AUT) vs R. Haase (NED) / A. Ramos-Vinolas (ESP)
ATP – L. Pouille (FRA) / J. Sousa (POR) vs G. Muller (LUX) / G. Simon (FRA)
WTA – TBA based on result – [WC] A. Parra Santonja (ESP) / S. Soler-Espinosa (ESP) vs C. Chuang (TPE) / S. Peng (CHN)