Sharapova defeats Tomljanovic in Abu Dhabi

Maria Sharapova defeated Ajla Tomljanovic in an exhibition match at the Mubadala World Tennis Championship.

It was a long time, no see for Maria Sharapova at the WTA Tour. She played her last match at the 2019 US Open where she lost to Serena Williams in the first round.

First, it was Amanda Anisimova who was supposed to play against Sharapova. But she had to withdraw when she said: “It’s really disappointing to have to withdraw from the Mubadala World Tennis Championship. I was looking forward so much to coming to Abu Dhabi and I hope to make the trip in the future.”

And so Anisimova was replaced by Tomljanovic and it seemed like the match did not lack any quality from the Aussie. She had a better start into the match when she led 3-0 and 4-2. But since that moment, Sharapova took over the match and did not lose any more games in the first set to win it 6-4.

In the second set, it was Tomljanovic again who had a rapid entry. She got an early 4-1 lead which she didn't want to give up this time. But she did not succeed in doing so. Sharapova won 6 out of the 7 games to turn also the second set and win it 7-5.

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