World number two Maria Sharapova notched her 500th career match win after winning her semifinal match at the Mutua Madrid on Saturday. The Russian tennis superstar defeated Ana Ivanovic of Serbia to reach the final of the Premier-level event. This means that Sharapova has won the last six meetings with the former top-ranked Serbian.
“In my previous match against her, a couple of weeks ago in Stuttgart, I had a bit of a letdown in the second set,” Sharapova said. “After losing that early break in the second set today I remembered that moment and didn’t want to let it happen again. I thought I played a pretty good game to get myself back in that second set, a good return game – and overall I’m pretty happy with how I played today.”
“It was a lot closer than the score indicates – I had a lot of chances, especially in the first set,” Ivanovic said. “I felt I lacked a little bit of energy and accuracy on my shots in the most important moments, and she’s such a great player, so you really have to be on top of your game if you want to win against her.
“But I feel I’m getting closer to really challenging these players.”
Sharapova became the 36th player to have achieved this milestone. She’s currently the eighth active player to have achieved this feat. She joined Venus Williams, Serena Williams, Tamarine Tanasugarn, Nadia Petrova, Francesca Schiavone, Jelena Jankovic and Flavia Pennetta.
