After a delayed start due to John Isner's marathon match running late into Thursday night, Maria Sharapova finally was able to play her second round match-up against Ayumi Morita of Japan on Friday morning. Just as was the case with her first round match when she defeated Alexandra Cadantu of Romania 6-0, 6-0, Sharapova just as easily eliminated Morita from the tournament by winning straight sets, 6-1, 6-1.
Sharapova will move onto to face Peng Shuai of China in the next round and with Serena Williams already eliminated from the tournament, many now point to Sharapova as one of the favorites to take home the clay court title. However, Sharapova knows she will need to play her best if she hopes to bring home her fourth Grand Slam Championship.
Courtesy of MercuryNews.com:
"With every round I'm going to be playing tougher opponents, and that's when you really want to kind of step it up and raise your level," she said. "That's what I'll try to do in the next round."
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