As the quarterfinal round of Wimbledon approaches, world no. 4 Maria Sharapova will be facing a more daunting challenge in her path to the semi-finals as she takes on Coco Vandeweghe.
Sharapova made it to the quarterfinals after defeating world no. 34 Kazakhstan's Zarina Diyas. The Russian had control in the opening moments of the match and took an early lead. Diyas was persistent in trying to narrow the gap, but Sharapova was just too strong, as the Kazakh failed to mount a full comeback and dropped the set.
Diyas showed some fight in the second set and even held on to the lead, but the 2004 champion bounced back to win the match 6-4, 6-4.
"I lost at this stage last year, so I was extremely happy to win and go a round further," Sharapova said following the huge win, according to The Guardian.
"My opponent is a really good grass-court player, she stays really low and hits the ball hard, so I really had to be ready for all of her shots. I wanted to start the tournament strong, and I think I've done that well, but it's only going to get tougher from here," she added.
Meanwhile, Vandeweghe, 23, defeated no. 6 Lucie Safarova 7-6 (1), 7-6 (4) to enter the quarterfinals and continue to surprise everyone.
Despite the victory, the American tennis player was unhappy with her performance against Safarova.
"I didn't really feel that good. I thought it was one of the worst matches that I have played the whole tournament so far. I think it was more my court positioning early on. I thought I was too far back, letting her dictate instead of making her feel my presence," Vandeweghe said in a report by ESPN.
This will be the first time in their careers that Sharapova and Vandeweghe will face one another.
But Sharapova is not underestimating the younger competitor and according to Stevegtennis.com, she said: "I think it's been a tremendous effort for her to get to this stage. Her game really revolves around that serve, and she's been using it quite effectively in her previous four matches."
"It's always tricky playing against a really good server on grass, because a few points here and there can ultimately tell the difference between the winner and the loser. But I'm looking forward to that matchup," she added.
The match will take place at Centre Court Tuesday and will begin at 1 p.m. London time and 8 p.m. EST. The match can be watched online through live stream by clicking here.
