Sharapova enters third round at Wimbledon

Sharapova, the 2004 champion, was patchy throughout the match except in the last set where she showed why she is a dominant force in a Grand Slam like Wimbledon. The match took two hours and 25 minutes.

"Oh, it's a such a relief! Tsvetana played very well. She was hitting hard, serving huge and that was the difference. I tried hard but my opponent put up a solid counterattack. Losing the second, I realised to go aggressive against her, admitted Sharapova. She transformed herself completely against her unseeded opponent. In 29 minutes, Sharapova outclassed Pironkova to enter the third round

Pironkova, was playing her seventh Wimbledon. Her best result here was in 2010 when she reached the semifinals where she lost to Venus Williams.

Four-time champion Serena Williams reached the third round thanks to a 6-1, 6-4 win over Hungarian qualifier Melinda Czink.u00a0