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