Maria Sharapova survived a fierce struggle with Romanian Alexandra Dulgheru before posting a 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 win to escape a second-round upset at the US Open on Wednesday.
French Open winner Sharapova, a five-time grand slam champion, dropped her opening set in another slow start and then had to battle for just under three hours to finally advance.
“Obviously the conditions were tough,” said Sharapova, seeded fifth. “You start in the sun; you finish under the lights. It was a very long match. Overall I felt like in the end I was in much better shape than she was and I could have played another few sets. Mentally that helped me a lot.”
Sharapova next plays German Sabine Lisicki, the 2013 Wimbledon finalist who crushed American Madison Brengle 6-4, 6-1.
“Physically I’m in a very good position,” said Sharapova, who has played the most (17) three-set matches this season on the WTA. “I’ve been able to recover quite well, it takes a lot of work and obviously commitment. Whatever it is, hours on the court, hours in the gym, it’s just finding that combination to get yourself in that good shape.”
Second seed Simona Halep, losing finalist to Sharapova at Roland Garros two months ago, was untroubled by Slovak Jana Cepelova in a 6-2, 6-1 win, but fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska became an upset victim with a 6-3, 6-4 loss to China’s Peng Shuai.
The victory in 96 minutes marked the fourth time that the 39-ranked Peng had beaten a top-five player.
The Chinese player finished with 28 winners and broke Poland’s Radwanska three times. The seed was able to convert on only one of her seven break chances.
“(Losing in the first week) is very disappointing,” said Radwanska after losing for a fourth time in the second round in New York. “This is not really a new thing for me — unfortunately.”
German sixth seed Angelique Kerber defeated Alla Kudryavtseva 6-2, 6-4, while Serb number nine Jelena Jankovic advanced past Tsvetana Pironkova and into the third round 7-5, 6-4.
Tenth seed Caroline Wozniacki stopped Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-3, 6-4.
Swede Johanna Larsson profitted from 63 unforced errors from Sloane Stephens in a 5-7, 6-4, 6-2 win.
