Maria Sharapova continues encouraging form by reaching second round of Italian Open by beating Ashleigh Barty
Sharapova reached her first quarter-final since returning from a drugs ban in Madrid last week
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Maria Sharapova continued her encouraging recent form as she battled past 16th seed Ashleigh Barty to book her place in the second round of the Italian Open in Rome.
Sharapova, who reached her first quarter-final since returning from her drugs ban in Madrid last week, outlasted the Australian 7-5 3-6 6-2 in a match lasting two and a half hours.
Sharapova, who is chasing a fourth career Italian Open title, told wtatour.com: "This tournament has been special in my career, and brought me some great matches.
"I'm a little bit more relieved this year, and just playing and not worrying about anything else, which is nice."
Former world number one Angelique Kerber beat lucky loser Zarina Diyas of Kazakhstan 6-2 7-6 (8/6) while Daria Kasatkina was another seed safely through as she beat Ajla Tomljanovic 6-0 6-4.
Timea Babos, Irina-Camelia Begu and Russian veteran Svetlana Kuznetsova were among other first-round winners but Kiki Bertens, who reached the final in Madrid last week, lost 6-2 4-6 6-3 to Maria Sakkari of Greece.
In two second-round matches, fourth seed Elina Svitolina beat Petra Martic 6-1 6-2 and fifth seed Jelena Ostapenko beat Shuai Zhang 6-2 7-5.
PA
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments