Maria Sharapova has acknowledged that only her willingness to fight until the last point earned her a dramatic victory over Russian compatriot Alexandra Panova.
The second seed saved two match points against the world number 150 before prevailing 7-5 in a deciding set, but despite her win, the 2008 champion has admitted that she struggled for answers against an inspired performance from her opponent.
The 27-year-old told Eurosport: "Fight was the only thing that I had today. I made so many unforced errors and my first-serve percentage was really low, and she was serving really well and moving me around the court.
"I didn't have many answers apart from that I fought to the end and managed to win the last point."
Sharapova will play either 31st seed Zarina Diyas or Anna Schmiedlova in the last 32.
Written by
Darren Plant
Darren Plant
