Sharapova survives Schnyder in US Open first round

Maria Sharapova looked to be cruising to a comfortable US Open victory over Patty Schnyder before things got tight late on Tuesday night.

Leading 6-2 5-1, Sharapova ultimately wrapped up a 6-2 7-6(6) win at Louis Armstrong Stadium to progress to the second round at Flushing Meadows for the second straight year.

In another night-time result, Madison Keys needed six match points to get past a stubborn Pauline Parmentier; last year’s finalist beat the Frenchwoman 6-4 6-4 at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

NEWS: Kerber, Kvitova, Wozniacki win first up

Unlike 2017, when she played excellent tennis to stun No.2 seed Simona Halep in an opening round blockbuster, Sharapova was tight and error-prone against the 39-year-old Schnyder, who last week became the oldest player in the Open Era to qualify for the US Open main draw.

The pair had met eight times previously, with Sharapova leading the head-to-head 7-1 – although six of those meetings had extended three sets. Their last match came more than 10 years ago in the Rome quarterfinals.

“I knew I was in for a battle, no matter what her story is or what my story was,” Sharapova said.

“I knew that we’d go out on the court today and re-live the memories of the amount of times we’ve faced each other, the tough three-set battles we’ve played against each other.

“I know what a competitor she is; to come back and to still have that desire is really admirable.”

This affair went very close to going the distance when Sharapova – who blew a set-and-5-2 lead in her first-round Wimbledon loss to Vitalia Diatchenko – missed three match points at 6-3 in the tiebreak.

But she eventually clouted an off-forehand return winner to end the match after almost two hours on court.

Sharapova: "She still has incredible hands, moves incredibly well for being out of the game for so long, still very competitive. I was just saying it took me, like, 15 years to dropshot Patty Schnyder and win a point. Doesn't happen that often against Patty.” #USOpen

— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) August 29, 2018

Incredibly, Schnyder did not hit her first winner until the eighth game of the second set, when trailing 2-6 2-5.

And it was about that time that Sharapova’s game fell to pieces, with the former world No.1’s forehand breaking down in response to Schnyder’s consistency and variation.

Sharapova appeared to play with her left wrist taped under a sweatband and was seen massaging her left arm near her elbow.

“I guess I had a lot of things on my mind. So just really happy I was able to win that last point,” she said, a little cryptically. “I wasn’t ready to hit another backhand at that (match) point, so I just wanted to go for the forehand.”

She finished the match with an unsightly nine double faults and twice the number of unforced errors to winners (46-23).

“I just have to improve. I have to get better. That’s my goal,” said Sharapova, who next faces Romania’s Sorana Cirstea.

“There’s many things that I can improve on from today, and I look forward to that.”