The 23 year old former World No. 1 Russian player, Maria Sharapova is back in the game as she defeated the 22 year old German professional tennis player, Julia Goerges during the 2011 Australian Open. Goerges bowed to Sharapova in a three-set competition; 6-4, 4-6 and 4-6.
Earlier on, Goerges won over Edina Gallovits-Hall and Kaia Kanepi while Sharapova fought against Tamarine Tanasugarn and Virgie Razzano.
What became more interesting in the Sharapova-Goerges faceoff was the development of an undercourt air bubble which resulted in the inability of the ball to bounce in the spot of the court where it formed. Umpire Kerrilyn Cramer readily called for the concerned personnel to check on the problem and to resolve it. In a statement released by Wayne McKewen, the tournament referee, he related, “This afternoon during the warm-up for the last match on Hisense Arena a slight rise in the court surface was noticed. The warm-up was halted for several minutes while the area was repaired. I, along with other tournament officials, then assessed playing conditions and deemed the court fit for play.”
As for Maria Sharapova, she commented, “Maybe it was comical to you, it wasn’t really comical to us. We warmed up and had to sit and wait for a while. They took care of it pretty fast.”