Maria Sharapova beats Muguruza in French Open comeback battle

Maria Sharapova survived an opening set deficit to fight back and defeat Garbiñe Muguruza of Spain 1-6, 7-5, 6-1 to advanced to the Roland Garros 2014 semifinal. Sharapova also encountered the same scenario on the previous round where she also dropped the first set but managed to mount a huge comeback to secure the victory.

“In a lot of the games in the first set she was up 30-0, 40-0, and then I’d win a point or two,” Sharapova said. “Then she’s the one with the confidence. In the second set, when I was making her hit a second ball after her serve or when I was being a bit more aggressive on the second serves, taking a bit more chances, all of a sudden she’s not hitting so freely.

“I knew that the match wasn’t over. I still had a fair bit of time to change things around. Little by little I started playing a bit better, started getting in the court a little bit more, playing a little bit more aggressive, serving better than I did in the first set, returning as well, giving myself more looks at break points.”

Muguruza grabbed headlines last week after the Spaniard defeated world number one and defending champion Serena Williams in the second round.

Sharapova will next face Eugenie Bouchard of Canada after the latter also launched her comeback to defeat Carla Suarez Navarro in three sets.