MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) – Maria Sharapova advanced to the third round of the Australian Open with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Aliaksandra Sasnovich, staying on course for a potential quarterfinal meeting with Serena Williams.
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“I had a couple of good ones; I had a couple of really crappy ones. It was an incredible moment to be in the final of this event again”, said Sharapova, who played her first-round match on Margaret Court Arena, one of three e two other covered stadiums at Melbourne Park.
Can she? Sharapova plays No. 105 Aliaksandra Sasnovich in the second round but faces more formidable challenges down the line, including her nemesis, Williams.
“I actually just returned a pair of underwear that wasn’t mine”, the 28-year-old said. I’m just happy to finish off today.
Asked, by an Italian journalist, if she’d watched a replay of that match, Williams gave a touchy response: “Yeah, I watch it every day”.
“He just stood so far back behind the baseline, I was like, just can’t handle him beating me so often”.
“I have to just change things around”. That’s kind of when I started getting into that a little bit. “But it started working, so that was good”. She lost to Williams in the semifinals at Wimbledon last summer, and she didn’t participate in any tournament until The Wuhan Open at the end of September.
Venus Williams tried to rally, winning two games and getting another break-point chance after falling a set and 5-0 behind, before her 16th trip to the Australian Open finished in a first-round loss to Johanna Konta.
The 17-time Grand Slam champion shone under the lights of Rod Laver Arena to wrap up the match in one hour and 12 minutes, putting on a clinic of clean hitting.
“I would assume. She’s never mentioned anything about not being here, not competing”. “I’m sure she’ll have a great future ahead of her”.
Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russian Federation slips on the court during her second round match against Kateryna Bondarenko of Ukraine at the Australian Open tennis championships in Melbourne, Australia, Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2016.
“Having someone there that understands the joy, the highs, the lows, the pain, is unique”, she added.
“Serena said she would be tapping up her sister for information about her next opponent, world number 69 Daria Kasatkina”.
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“My first one I think”, she said. “I’m definitely not going to excel at that shot”. “I’m quite pleased with the way I played tonight”. “He’s really good at studying”.
