‘Are you serious? You and me? Going to dinner?’: Maria Sharapova recalls first meet with Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic, too, confirmed that Sharapova's recollection that both had gone to dinner during their initial days of the career was true.
Russian three-time champion Maria Sharapova rolled to a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Daria Gavrilova to book a spot in the quarter-finals of the Italian Open, a key French Open tune-up event.
Sharapova needed an hour and 38 minutes during the match on Thursday to overcome the feisty Australian, who had upset Spain’s Garbiñe Muguruza 5-7, 6-2, 7-6 (8-6) in a more than three-hour battle on Wednesday, Efe news reported.
The 40th-ranked Russian dominated with her return game, breaking her opponent on seven occasions and winning 19 of Gavrilova’s 22 second-serve points.
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Sharapova struggled at times on her own serve – getting broken four times, committing six double faults and winning just 56 per cent of her first-serve points – but her high winning percentage on second-serve points (53 per cent) allowed her to clinch a relatively routine victory.
Even though the victory was not as clean as possible, Sharapova saw the glass as half-full in her post-match interview.
“I just like the way that I’m competing.” she was quoted as saying on the WTA’s Web site. “I like the way that I feel out there. I think that’s really important, you know… I just like the attitude with which I’m playing with.”
Next up for Sharapova in Friday’s quarter-finals will be Latvian reigning French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko, who rallied for a 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory over Briton Johanna Konta.
That match will be the first-ever meeting between two of tennis’ most powerful baseline players.
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