The former finalist at Rogers Cup, Maria Sharapova and the 16th seed, Anett Kontaveit put up an evening show on Toronto’s Centre Centre. With Sharapova taking a lead by a set and a break, the Estonian roared back to eliminate the famous tennis star, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the opening round of Rogers Cup 2019 in nearly three hours. 

Despite staging an exemplary performance in Toronto, which was accompanied with second serve aces and flicking the tennis ball, Sharapova’s confidence on the professional courts has dwindled and she has been striving to fix it up.

Her journey on the WTA courts won’t be as easy. She will be featuring in different tournaments in the near future and she will be meeting tough players in the upcoming matches. “I’m going to be coming up against tough players, long matches, and there are always going to be tested. I always have to play my best tennis no matter who I play,” she said.

“So it will just take time to build that confidence again, I have struggled with it for a long time,” Maria Sharapova said. Also, she fit and free of injuries and that bolstered her movements on the court yesterday.

High-quality tennis was delivered by the Russian. Over the past few months, Sharapova’s tennis standard has been deteriorating, but the evening thriller yesterday, unveiled Sharapova’s endeavors which she had put in on her tennis and the former World Number one was happy with her gameplay last night.

“She was the aggressive player, took a few more chances in the end, and it paid off,” Maria Sharapova said while commending the fight-back from her opponent. “I put a lot of work to get to this stage, so I think to finish off this match is good. Definitely not the result I would have liked, but overall feeling pretty good about it.”

Before the World Number 81 begins her US Open venture at Flushing Meadows, Maria Sharapova will next be seen at Cincinnati Open in Ohio, which will get underway next week.