Maria Sharapova continued her marauding form in handing out a 6-2 6-1 thrashing to Sweden’s Rebecca Peterson. (Reuters)Former Australian Open winner Maria Sharapova continued her marauding form in handing out a 6-2 6-1 thrashing to Sweden’s Rebecca Peterson on Wednesday and set up a blockbuster third-round showdown with defending champion Caroline Wozniacki.
The Russian 30th seed, who was suspended for 15 months for taking banned drug meldonium in 2016, broke her 23-year-old opponent twice in the opening set and peppered the court with powerful groundstrokes in a superb display of hitting.
Sharapova, who beat Harriet Dart 6-0 6-0 in her opening round, won seven consecutive games to take a 4-0 lead in the second set before world number 64 Peterson could get on the board. The Russian did not face a single breakpoint in the match and sealed it in 71 minutes with a third break in the set.
In a clash of former world number one players, the five-times Grand Slam winner will next meet Dane Wozniacki, who eased past Johanna Larsson 6-1 6-3 earlier in the day.
Caroline Wozniacki beats Johanna Larsson 6-1 6-3 in a one-sided clash
Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki in action during the match against Sweden’s Johanna Larsson. (REUTERS)Defending champion Caroline Wozniacki eased past Johanna Larsson 6-1 6-3 in a one-sided clash at the Australian Open on Wednesday. Third-seeded Wozniacki took just over an hour to secure her second consecutive straight-sets win for a possible match-up between two former world number one players against Sharapova who plays Rebecca Peterson in the second round.
Wozniacki made just 12 unforced errors in her second round match against a player who constantly switched up her tactics in an ultimately unsuccessful bid to break down the brick wall defence of her higher-ranked opponent. Wozniacki wobbled early in the second set, after being unable to convert a series of break points in the opening game, before settling back into her rhythm and running away with the match.
“I thought it was a fine match,” Wozniacki, who is battling rheumatoid arthritis, told reporters. “I think she stepped it up a little bit in the second set. I think I served well.”
Wozniacki has been in the top echelon of women’s tennis for a decade but won her first Grand Slam singles title at the start of 2018.
Ashleigh Barty shines brightly as compatriots stumble
Ashleigh Barty beat Wang Yafan 6-2 6-3.Australia’s top-ranked player Ashleigh Barty beat Wang Yafan 6-2 6-3 in a straight-forward affair on Wednesday, propelling the home country’s leading prospect into the third round. The 15th-seeded Barty is the highest ranked local player — either man or woman — in the tournament and is known for her court craft and is an accomplished doubles player, while she has also played elite-level cricket.
“I felt like today was pretty clean, except for a couple of games where I got passive,” Barty told reporters. The 22-year-old will play Greece’s Maria Sakkari in the third round. She is one of a rapidly depleting list of local players at the tournament where Australians have had limited success despite boasting several Grand Slam singles champions like Samantha Stosur, Lleyton Hewitt and Pat Rafter since the 1990s.
No Australian man or woman has won the singles title at their home Grand Slam since the 1970s. The last women’s finalist was Wendy Turnbull in 1980, while Hewitt lost the 2005 final to Russia’s Marat Safin.
An injury-hampered Nick Kyrgios crashed out of the Australian Open first round on Tuesday in straight sets, leaving further doubts as to whether the 23-year-old can realise his potential.
Australia’s top-ranked male prospect, Alex de Minaur, is scheduled to play his second round match against Switzerland’s Henri Laaksonen later on Wednesday.
Sloane Stephens wins battle of ‘Frenemies’ at Australian Open
Sloane Stephens of the US shakes hands with Hungary’s Timea Babos after winning the match. (REUTERS)Sloane Stephens advanced at the Australian Open at the expense of her former doubles partner Timea Babos in a second-round match the women’s tour billed as a battle of the so-called “frenemies.” Fifth-seeded Stephens, the 2017 U.S. Open champion, dominated the Rod Laver Arena opener 6-3, 6-1 on Wednesday but Babos kept her working by saving 18 of the 23 break points she faced.
The pair combined to win three junior Grand Slam doubles titles, the French, Wimbledon and US Open in 2010. Stephens said she knew what to expect from Babos but that didn’t make it any smoother. “I just had to hang in there and be patient,” she said.
Stephens will next play No. 31-seeded Petra Martic, who beat Marketa Vondrousova 6-4, 7-5. Under sunny skies and an expected high temperature of 29 Celsius (84 Fahrenheit), local hope Ashleigh Barty was due to play the second match on the main show court against Wang Yafan. This is the first time since 2014 that Stephens has put back-to-back wins together at Melbourne Park. She reached the fourth round in 2014, a year after making a run to the semifinals.
“It’s tough getting back into the swing of things,” Stephens said of her preparation for the season-opening major, which this month included first- and second-round losses in Brisbane and Sydney. “It’s a little bit toasty, but a beautiful place to play.”
In other early women’s matches Wednesday, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova eliminated ninth-seeded Kiki Bertens 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 to reach the third round of a major for the first time since her quarterfinal run here in 2017, and Aliaksandra Sasnovich beat 20th-seeded Anett Kontaveit 6-3, 6-3.
No. 19-seeded Caroline Garcia advanced 6-3, 6-3 over Zoe Hives 6-3, 6-3. Defending champions Roger Federer and Caroline Wozniacki were in action later Wednesday, as well the No. 2-ranked players Rafael Nadal and Angelique Kerber.
Angelique Kerber wins battle of left-handers to progress to third round
Angelique Kerber faced just one breakpoint in the match in the second set and converted her first opportunity in the eighth game to go 5-3 up and serve for the set. (Reuters)German second seed Angelique Kerber easily won the battle of left-handers against big-hitting Brazilian qualifier Beatriz Haddad Maia 6-2 6-3 to stroll into the third round of the Australian Open on Wednesday. The Wimbledon champion broke the 22-year-old Haddad Maia twice in the opening set and converted her first set point when the Brazilian sent a forehand wide for her 29th unforced error in the set.
Kerber, a triple Grand Slam champion who won in Melbourne in 2016, faced just one breakpoint in the match in the second set and converted her first opportunity in the eighth game to go 5-3 up and serve for the set.
“I think it was a good match from my side. I was trying to play aggressive from the first point until the last one, serving good, really focusing on the moment on court,” Kerber told reporters. “I think I was playing good, especially in the second set, it was a little bit close.”
The strongly-built six-feet tall Brazilian saved 10 breakpoints in the first set, six of them in the sixth game for a hold, and hit more winners than Kerber. However, she was undone by her erratic shot making. Haddad Maia cut down on her unforced errors in the second set and made Kerber work harder as the rallies grew longer. The second set went on serve till Kerber broke to go up when Haddad Maia sent a forehand wide.
Another wide forehand groundstroke from the Brazilian gave Kerber the match on the Rod Laver Arena. “She’s also a lefty, so it’s always a little bit different to play. Then she was serving good. She really hits the ball hard and tough,” Kerber added. “So I was trying to get a lot of balls back. Also, like I said, being aggressive. I think she’s a good player, she really played well.”
Former world number one Kerber will next meet Australian wildcard Kimberly Birrell, who earlier ousted 29th seeded Donna Vekic 6-4 4-6 6-1, on Friday while also celebrating her 31st birthday. “Maybe it’s a good omen to play on my birthday,” Kerber said.
