Advancing age and match mileage have banged up Sharapova’s body a bit-a right leg injury forced her out of the 2015 US Open and a left foream injury prevented her from defending her Brisbane title earlier this month-but the 28-year-old Russian dispensed the punishment today.
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But Hibino, who had spent so much of the match on the back foot, began to be more aggressive and raise her level as a whole, giving Sharapova a taste of her own medicine.
“My first one I think”, she said.
Another seed down. It is Vinci this time! Answering with a hold of her own, Sharapova was just a game away from victory now. “After treatment I got better”, Nishikori said.
The 18-year-old said she was not intimidated by the prospect of playing a five-times grand slam victor as she looks to reach a second quarter-final at a major by matching her breakthrough run at the 2014 U.S. Open. 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.
After outstripping her previous second round best at the tournament, Bencic even became the first Swiss woman to reach the 4th round at Melbourne Park, since Martina Hingis and Patty Schnyder in 2007.
“When I’m aggressive and I have depth on my shots, it’s just good to have that variety to bring (players) in, to move forward myself”, said Sharapova, who next faces American Lauren Davis.
Maria Sharapova needed just 73 minutes to completely dismantle WTA Rising Star Nao Hibino 6-1, 6-3 at the 2016 Australian Open.
Looking to reach the quarterfinals at Melbourne Park for the third time, the Japanese No. 7 seed withstood 11 aces against an opponent winning 83 per cent of his first serve points to book a showdown with either ninth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga or Pierre-Hugues Herbert.
For the second time in three days, Novak Djokovic won a match at the Australian Open and was confronted by questions about match-fixing in the sport.
“To come back here and play my first match on Rod Laver is always very special as you always get those first little jitters out of the way”.
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) – Roger Federer was already a long way clear at the top of the list of men with the most wins in Grand Slam singles matches, so becoming the first to 300 wasn’t a major distraction.
“I hope to keep it up as long as I choose to play tennis”, he said.
Williams won the first set of her Rod Laver Arena match in 22 minutes and was helped by four double-faults by Kasatkina.
The No. 7-seeded Nishikori, a two-time quarterfinalist here, dropped serve just once when he was serving for the second set but recovered to win a tight tiebreaker.
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Melbourne Park has three stadiums with retractable roofs – Rod Laver Arena, Margaret Court Arena and Hisense Arena.
