Chani Scheepers moved confidently into the second round of the GEF Suez Open in Paris on Wednesday, writes Mark Etheridge.
Our top-ranked women’s player at No44 on the WTA rankings, Scheepers wasn’t unduly troubled. She beat Slovenia’s Polona Hercog in straight sets, 6-2 6-2.
Playing on court one, the recently engaged Scheepers, needed just 1hr 11min to wrap things up, breaking her opponent on five occasions.
It was a good win for her, as Hercog is currently ranked six places higher and the victory will be a confidence booster.
And confidence will be something she needs as she comes up against the formidable Maria Sharapova in the second round on Thursday. Sharapova, a finalist in the Australian Open last month, had a first round bye at this tournament.
The two players have yet to play each other and it will be a great experience for Scheepers to test herself against the hard-hitting and even harder grunting Russian.