Sharapova Turns Heads, Cruises Through Quarterfinals of WTA Korea Open

Over 5,000 spectators filled the Seoul Olympic tennis court on a quiet weekday afternoon after a big Chuseok holiday.

That’s how much the fans felt feverish over the "Tennis Fairy" before them, who was flying around the court with her long legs, aware of herself as the center of attention and motivated by the eyes of the crowd, which followed her every move.

In the second round of the WTA Hansol Korea Open held at the Seoul Olympic tennis court on September 30, eighth seed Maria Sharapova, who carries exorbitant popularity as one of the world’s next female tennis greats, edged Saeki Miho (Japan, 258th seed) in two straight sets with scores of 6-3 and 6-1, and safely advanced to the quarterfinals.

Sharapova, standing 183cm tall, trailed the 15 cm-shorter Saeki 1-3 early in the opening game. Saeki, who is not ranked in the top 200, led early when Sharapova was dragged into the pace of Saeki’s slow stroke rally plays and made numerous unforced errors.

But Sharapova rallied with accurate strokes down the corner of the baseline and good angled serves accentuated by her signature shouts, and took five straight games to capture the first set.

In the second set, Sharapova won six straight games after allowing her opponent to hold serve in the opening game to claim victory.

"I struggled in the opening game because of the slow pace of my opponent, but kept my concentration and got back to my pace," Sharapova said. "The support from the fans became a big factor."

Sharapova, who is aiming for her second title of the year since winning this year`s Wimbledon, will face 81st seed Amanda Stoser (Australia) in her semifinal bid at 2:00 p.m. local time on October 1.

Jong-Seok Kim kjs0123@donga.com