Fourth-seeded Maria Sharapova came into the third round of Wimbledon dropping just eight games. She faced her first test today in Irina Begu, a 24-year-old Romanian on the rise, currently ranked 31 in the world. Although looking shaky at times, the highest earning female athlete in the world got past her hard-hitting opponent and reached the round of 16 for the 10th time at the All England Club, winning 6-4, 6-3.
In the first game of the match, Sharapova double faulted twice to give away an easy break to the Romanian. The best returner in the world broke Begu right back, leveling the set at 1-1. The Russian mega star held serve at 1-1, producing a brilliant lob winner to win the game. Both players continued to hold serve, with Sharapova trying to stay consistent and control her aggressive play. Begu played solid service games, hitting powerful serves and potent forehands. However her nerves conquered her at 4-5 down, and the fourth ranked player in the world broke to capture the first set.
Begu suffered from an enormous letdown in the second set, and played lackadaisical tennis to go down 0-5. Sharapova continued to control the baseline, using her cross-court backhand to open up the court. Serving from 0-5 down, the 29th-seeded Romanian played her best tennis of the match, belting her forehand cross court to put Sharapova in trouble. The scoreboard pressure was off Begu, and she decided to go for broke. She held to stay in the match, and then broke the Russian to get to 2-5. At 2-5, she played another outstanding service game to get to 3-5. Serving to finish the match at 5-3, Sharapova quickly went down 0-30, with Begu continuing to go for broke on her forehand. The five-time Grand Slam champion fought back and held serve to complete the match: 6-4, 6-3.
The fourth seed faced her first true test in the tournament thus far, and the competition will only become fiercer in her upcoming matches. She will either face 14th seeded German Andrea Petkovic or 34th ranked Kazakh Zarina Diyas. The powerful Petkovic would certainly be the tougher challenge, as she defeated the Russian in the fourth round of the 2011 Australian Open. Diyas is a counter-puncher that will offer Sharapova a lot of rhythm, and the match would likely be a batting practice for the hard-hitting Russian. Petkovic has the power and consistency to possibly upset Sharapova, so the Russian must play her sharpest tennis in the next round.