Maria Sharapova overcomes gutsy Davis to reach Australian Open 4th round

Maria Sharapova overcame a brief lapse which cost her the second set before storming through for a 6-1, 6-7 (5-7), 6-0 win over Lauren Davis to reach the second week of the Australian Open on Friday.

The four-time Australian Open champion got the better of Dimitrov with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 win in two hours, 40 minutes under the closed roof on Rod Laver Arena and he is now up against Belgium’s 15th seed David Goffin in the next round.

Another break for the Russian hauled her back into the set and it went with serve to a tense tiebreak, which included an epic 27-shot rally. Sharapova said, when an on-court interviewer congratulated her for the achievement earned by winning her third-round match. But her concentration waned and Davis got her first break point of the match, with Sharapova’s backhand into the net levelling it at 2-2.

“I thought she played really well at Wimbledon”.

Sharapova will next play Belinda Bencic, who beat KaterynaBondarenko 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 in the first match of the day on Friday. She now faces, an inter-generational battle against 12th seed Bencic. Two, Sharapova is renowned for her third-set toughness.

Vinci, who famously defeated Serena Williams in a semi-final at last year’s US Open, dealt her opponent a bagel in the first set but a resurgent Friedsam turned the tables to record a 0-6 6-4 6-4 win.

“I played a quality player who took out Federer last year here and who has been on the tour for many years”, Djokovic said.

Some statistics can be misleading but when you’ve just won your 600th match, it is pretty clear that you have had a stellar career. “You know, my father paved this career for me, that I just keep following”, she said.

Sharapova took a bathroom break before the third set and returned with more composure, making just five unforced errors and breaking Davis three times.

“It’s very exciting, I must tell you”, Federer told the crowd following his 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 victory over Dimitrov. “I tried to dictate little more, tried to step in and use more forehands, and I think I was able to come in many times today”. I think if I think about it like that, like, Oh, I’ve been around the block, I’ve been to all these tournaments so many times, that would seem quite heavy, not really motivate me much.

Tournament officials said play would not be possible on outdoor courts until at least 2:30 p.m., and the rain was still falling at Melbourne Park.

Returning to the fourth round at Melbourne Park for the fourth straight year was a confidence booster, and he said the right wrist “actually, it was OK”.

It was business as usual for women’s defending champion Serena Williams as she demolished her sister’s vanquisher Daria Kasatkina.

“When I played past year I was very nervous”.