Madrid — Maria Sharapova’s clay-court revival is gathering pace after the Russian eased past Romanian Irina-Camelia Begu at the Madrid Open on Monday. Sharapova arrived in Spain on the back of four consecutive defeats, but two wins, the latest a 7-5 6-1 victory over Begu, have sent her into the last 16. France’s Kristina Mladenovic will now await Sharapova, who is showing signs of rhythm ahead of the French Open later in May, which she won in 2012 and 2014. It was in Madrid that Sharapova lost to Eugenie Bouchard in 2017, in what was only her second tournament back following a 15-month suspension for taking the banned drug meldonium. She has struggled for form and fitness since, with a thigh injury curtailing her comeback. She lost to Angelique Kerber at the Australian Open in January and went on to lose opening matches in Doha, Indian Wells and Stuttgart. But, now ranked 52nd in the world, Sharapova was aggressive from the baseline against Begu and while there were a few more error...
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