US Open: Sharapova beats Babos to reach third round

After the win over number two seed Simona Halep of Romania, Russian wildcard Maria Sharapova won another three-set match to advance to the third round of the US Open.

Sharapova, who is playing in her first Grand Slam tournament since serving a 15-month doping suspension, defeated Hungary's Timea Babos 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-1 on Wednesday, Xinhua news agency reported.

The five-time major champion was underperforming in the opening set and made 19 unforced errors including four double faults. And an upset looked to be on the cards when Babos took the first set.

But the 30-year-old Russian turned around the situation in the following set with a controlled performance. After breaking serve to go up 4-3, she never looked back before taking the set easily 6-4.

Sharapova, now ranked 146th in the world, kept the pressure on her opponent when she started the third set with a break game on her way to victory.

"Today I knew I wanted to get it done and I did. I felt like it was a scrappy match but sometime those days are the best because you get through and give yourself another chance," said Sharapova.

"In the second set I was physically fresh. That gave me a lot of confidence.

"I just wanted to be the fittest player out there in the end, and I was."

--IANS

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