Maria Sharapova Exhibited Sportsman Spirits in Shenzhen

One most celebrated athletes from Russia, Maria Sharapova is through to the quarterfinals at the Shenzhen Open,  after her Chinese opponent Wang Xinyu retired in the second set with cramps. The score was 6-7(4) 5-2 when the Chinese retired from the match.

Xinyu is the youngest player of the tournament with 17-years of age. Sharapova comforted her before she left the court. The five-time Grand Slam champion exclaimed, “cramps suck!”. The Russian expressed her sportsman spirits on the court today. Her words towards the Chinese made a heartfelt compliment for Xinyu.  “You played unbelievable, OK? Unbelievable. Take care of yourself. If you play like that you’re going to be number one, I promise”, Sharapova addressed the Chinese ace with these words once the match was concluded, also aided her with water and towels. 

Additionally, after that wholehearted compliment, she added, “Obviously it’s a tough situation. It’s not the way either of us wants to finish the match, win or lose. I thought Wang was absolutely the dominant player in this match and had all the opportunities to win it, even though I felt like I was finding my stride and getting a little bit closer to the line and being more aggressive. She has all the tools to play well and she showcased that. It’s obviously a very unfortunate way to end the match.”

Irrespective of her achievements on and off the court the Russian tennis ace is globally one of the most misunderstood tennis players. The misapprehensions exalted after she failed the drug test in the year 2016 and was detained from tennis for five quarters of a year. However, her gestures on the court in Shenzhen have definitely fulfilled the criteria of an efficient sportsperson. Sharapova will next take on the top-seeded Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus in the quarterfinals. She surpassed Ekaterina Alexandrova from Russia 6-3, 6-3 in the previous round.