Sharapova battles into Open fourth round

On Friday in Melbourne, she did it once more, taking care of OH local Lauren Davis 6-1, 6-7 (5), 6-0 to achieve the fourth round of the Australian Open.

Maria Sharapova withstood a second-set lapse, defeating Lauren Davis, 6-1, 6-7 (5), 6-0 to score her 600th career win. It was her 600th career WTA match win.

Two-time champion Victoria Azarenka was the most impressive of the women’s winners when she hammered Danka Kovinic 6-1, 6-2 to reach the third round for the loss of just three games in total. The No. 5-seeded player then thought a moment, and laughed nervously. She is 22-1 at Grand Slams against Americans not named Williams. “Oh boy. Is this a friendly reminder that I’m getting old?” – the 29-year-old joked when a court interviewer congratulated her after the game.

Maria Sharapova is still only 28 years old but sometimes it can seem as if the Russian has been around for ever. She returned with more composure in the final set, making just five unforced errors and breaking Davis three times.

Long touted for big things, 12th seed Bencic was the first player into the round of 16 after fighting back from a set down to overhaul Ukrainian Kateryna Bondarenko 4-6 6-2 6-4 in the earlier match at Rod Laver Arena. Against Williams, Sharapova is an abysmal 2-18 for her career.

Davis is an aggressive player who will cause Sharapova significant problems if the Russian once again struggles with her serving. “In that second set, I think I just found my rhythm, and I was serving much better as well”.

She added: “Martina always tries to help me a lot, which I’m very thankful for”.

But Sharapova will never forget her roots, particularly the sacrifices her mother and father made to get her to this point, her father accompanying her to Florida as a seven-year-old, with her mother unable to get to America for two years.

Umpire James Keothavong did his best to try and mollify the clearly riled Kyrgios as he dropped the first two sets.

Top-ranked Williams is still in contention in Melbourne, set to play her third-round match later Friday against Daria Kasatkina of Russian Federation. “That’s what I play for”, she said.

Agnieszka Radwanska is also through to the second week, but 2015 US Open runner-up Roberta Vinci was dumped out by world number 82 Anna-Lena Friedsam on a day that saw rain cause delays on the outside courts.

Sharapova now heads into the second week with some daunting obstacles looming in her path.

Asked how she keeps herself motivated, Sharapova said: “I really love what I do”. Gavrilova will come up against Carla Suarez Navarro in her maiden fourth round match at a grand slam.

“I’m just glad to be in the fourth round; I have a great opponent on the other side and I’m going to do everything to try and win that match”.