|
 Sharapova trailed 3-0 in the second set but battled back to 4-3 down
before her serve was broken again by the 21-year-old who broke into
the top-100 this week.
The pair had never met before and Gavrilova, who is based in
Australia, was playing in her first Miami Open.
"I have been dreaming about beating Maria since I was probably 12
when I saw her win Wimbledon, when she beat Serena," said Gavrilova
who expects to receive her Australian citizenship later this year.
"I was probably visualizing beating her since I was 12 but this was
a bit harder than that. I thought I was very composed and just did
my best. I was believing."
Sharapova said she had lacked patience at times and attempted too
many winners but she was philosophical about her loss.
"It's sport, and I happened to lose the match," she said. "Of course
it's a bit of a surprise. I'm expected to win."
Venus Williams eased into the third round with a comfortable 6-3 6-2
win over Poland's Urszula Radwanska while Caroline Wozniacki also
progressed.
Williams has been away from competition for almost a month but she
needed just 66 minutes to beat the younger sister of 2012 Miami
winner Agnieszka Radwanska.
Williams was not at her best, she made 24 unforced errors but
produced 22 winners to Radwanska's four and her passage to the next
round was never in doubt.
[to top of second column] |
"She's definitely a tricky player. She puts so many balls in play.
And it was a little windy today - I just had to keep my feet moving
and pray my balls were going in," said Williams, who will face
Australian Sam Stosur in the next round after she defeated French
qualifier Pauline Parmentier 6-1 3-6 6-0.
Fourth seed Wozniacki had no trouble in dealing with American
Madison Brengle 6-0 6-1 to set up a meeting with Estonian Kaia
Kanepi.
Agnieszka Radwanska had a tougher battle, surviving a strong test in
the second set to earn a 6-4 7-5 win over Slovakia's Anna
Schmiedlova.
Top seed Serena Williams will be in action on Friday against
Romanian Monica Niculescu, while third seed Simona Halep takes on
Czech wildcard Nicole Vaidisova.
(Editing by Greg Stutchbury)
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
