Eugenie Bouchard produced a brilliant fighting display to win her grudge match against Maria Sharapova at the Madrid Open.The pair faced each other in the second round with Bouchard winning a tense match 7-5, 2-6, 6-4.The Canadian Aaron Ekblad Jersey world No60 had called Sharapova “a cheater” before the Russian’s return to competitive action in April after a 15-month doping ban. It was Bouchard’s first win against Sharapova, who she believes should be banned from tennis for life. Sharapova, a five-times grand slam winner, was initially banned by the International Tennis Federation for two years after testing positive for meldonium at the 2016 Australian Open. It was reduced to 15 months and, in October, the court of arbitration for sport said she was not an “intentional doper”.Bouchard was still hugely critical of Sharapova, though, and the Russian looked to gain some kind of payback early on in their Madrid match. She needed to save two break points in the fifth game but broke Bouchard in the sixth with a brutal forehand winner to lead 4-2. Bouchard http://www.officialpanthersonlinestore.com/Aleksander_Barkov_Jersey immediately broke back and capitalised on sloppy play from Sharapova, who made six double faults in the first set, to break again. Yet Bouchard missed the chance to win the set when she dropped her serve to make it 5-5.Sharapova 'a cheater' and should not play tennis again, says Bouchard – video Sharapova then lost a 12-minute service game as Bouchard broke and the Canadian eventually took the opening set 7-5 after 70 minutes. Sharapova, who struggled with her serve all evening, recovered in the second, again claiming a 4-2 lead. This time she did not let Bouchard back in as shewrapped it up 6-2.Neither player was prepared to give ground in the decider as Sharapova survived five break points in the fifth game. Bouchard’s pressure paid off when she broke to love to go 4-3 up, only for Sharapova to hit instantly back. But another break from Bouchard allowed her to serve for the match to set up a third-round tie with Angelique Kerber.Kerber defeated Dominique Wilkins Jersey Katerina Siniakova 6-2, 1-6, 7-5 to regain the world No1 ranking. The German top seed overcame seven double faults and won the final four games to defeat the Czech in just under two hours.Maria Sharapova’s competitive instincts intact on her return from the wilderness Karolina Pliskova, seeded second for the tournament and ranked third in the world, lost against Latvia’s Anastasija Sevastova 6-3, 6-3, ending her hopes of reaching No1 this week. That meant Kerber was guaranteed to retake the top ranking from Serena Williams.Lara Arruabarrena defeated the 15th seed Barbora Strycova 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 and Kristina Mladenovic edged out the American Lauren Davis 6-3, 1-6, 7-6. Svetlana Kuznetsova knocked out Alison Riske, with the Russian coming from behind to win 2-6, 7-6, 6-2.The men’s world No1 Andy Murray, a two-times Madrid champion, will face Marius Copil in the second round http://www.officialhawkstore.com/Dominique_Wilkins_Jersey today after Copil saved two match points to defeat his fellow wild card Guillermo García-López to win 7-6, 4-6, 7-6.Murray has endured a difficult time after returning from an elbow injury, crashing out against the Spanish world No24 Albert Ramos-Viñolas in the Monte Carlo Masters last 16, and then enduring semi-final defeat by the Austrian Dominic Thiem at the Barcelona Open. Agencieshen the clock struck midnight here, Maria Sharapova’s interminable wait was finally over. An outcast no more, the gates to the world of tennis were open to her again and nobody could cross DeAndre' Bembry Authentic Jersey her name off the list. Nine hours and 15 minutes later, Sharapova strode purposefully on court, ignoring the cameras and journalists, and briefly it was possible to fall into the trap of thinking that this was just business as usual.But it was no ordinary occasion. Rarely, if ever, had there been this much interest in a practice hit before a first-round match at a tournament where players tune up on clay before the French Open next month. One of the sport’s most famous figures, and by far its most controversial, was back in the sceptical public eye after the rancour that followed her stunning revelation of a failed drug test last year and the troubling sense that even now she feels no shame about meldonium being found in her system.Perhaps that apparent shortage of remorse can be explained by Sharapova’s knowing awareness of her undiminished power. For longer than she would care to remember, the Russian’s reputation has been dragged through the mud. In the eyes of most of her peers, she will always be a pariah, but there are others who still regard her as Princess Maria and fall obligingly at her feet whenever she walks on a court.A few of those people were in the Centre Court crowd at the Porsche Arena on Wednesday night, when Sharapova played in a competitive setting for the first time in 15 months. There were supportive signs in the stands, a few Russian flags, and noticeable cheers instead of jeers as Sharapova prepared to face the awkward Roberta Vinci and start her quest for passage into the grand slams. A 7-5, 6-3 victory against the world No36, who is no ally of hers, secured a match against Ekaterina Makarova on Thursday, the dangerous Russian left-hander. There was even some whooping.
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