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Donna Vekic upped her value with a big victory at the Australian Open on Tuesday. Focus and speed were the tricks to defeating Maria Sharapova in straight sets 6-3, 6-4 on Rod Laver Arena to advance into the second round. Maintaining a high first-serve percentage was all that was needed to perform well on the big stage at Melbourne Park.
Both met back at the French Open, where Sharapova defeated the speedy Croatian in straight sets. In the two years gone by, Vekic found herself in the top 20 while the former world number one battled a shoulder injury that caused her problems late last season. With no wins so far in 2020, Sharapova would hope to avoid another early exit in back to back slams.
Vekic came out on a mission to trounce the Russian superstar, winning her opening service swiftly. Sharapova got on board, holding the Croatian to a point in the second but it wasn’t enough to make a serious dent. Vekic rallied through the next four games picking up two breaks in the process while holding the former world number one to a total of six points. Just when it looked as if Vekic had the set locked up, Sharapova rallied with a break back in the seventh jumping out to a lead and holding it.
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The offence from Vekic dissipated, giving the Russian a surge of forehand shots that earned her another victory. The 23-year-old had enough of the sudden comeback from her opponent and closed out the set on serve with a victory that finished the set in 36 minutes.
Sharapova faced defeat once again, but efforts in the second set came quickly for her benefit. A serve to love got the former world number one started and battled Vekic in the second with a threat of a break. The Croatian managed to force deuce and hold on the lone AD point that set into motion a push from Sharapova. The 32-year-old scored a second serve to love and added the break to move up 3-1.
Another hold put her in a 4-1 situation where it looked like a third set was imminent. Vekic had other ideas and covered the spread with three consecutive victories that stunned the Russian superstar. The 19th seed secured the double break in the set to serve for a chance at the match. She had a minor hiccup committing her fourth double fault but got lucky on an error from Sharapova. Two winners gave her match points, the last one of which she held on a bad return from her opponent, ending the game in 1 hour and 21 minutes.
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