Fifth seed Sharapova prevailed 6-1 6-7 (5-7) 6-0 against American outsider Davis to reach the landmark, while world number one and defending champion Williams outclassed teenager Daria Kasatkina to seal a 6-1 6-1 win.
Advertisement
The 28-year-old, a five-time grand slam victor, hadn’t dropped a set into the third round but struggled before beating the 22-year-old Lauren Davis 6-1, 6-7 (7-5), 6-1.
Play began on time at the three covered stadiums, including a third-round match between 12th-seeded Belinda Bencic of Switzerland and Kateryna Bondarenko of Ukraine on the main Rod Laver Arena.
Davis said she needed an energy boost because she hadn’t had lunch before the match.
Maria Sharapova feels her third-round win over Lauren Davis was tougher than it should have been after her rollercoaster performance. “I didn’t know him and after this match, I said, yes, he’s not a good player”.
“It’s very exciting, I must tell you”, said Federer of the milestone.
Bencic became the first woman from Switzerland to advance to the final 16 since Martina Hingis and Patty Schnyder in 2007. I get back on the court, it’s amusing, those first few moments where you feel a bit rusty, but the feeling of hitting the ball, even though you’re not playing points, when that comes back to me, I’m like, This is what I love to do.
“I’m quite happy that I was able to step up in the third set; that was very important”. After exchanging a trio of holds, the world number five drew first blood as two loose forehand flew off of Davis’ racquet, landing in the tramlines to secure Sharapova the early break.
He went on to clinch the second set in the next game and later wrapped up the match in 1 hour, 55 minutes.
Earlier on Rod Laver, 2008 champion Maria Sharapova collected her 600th win at tour level. “I’ve been doing it a long time”. “It was one of those days where everything I did went right”. “Everything was just coming so fast and she was playing with an unbelievable intensity”.
“I haven’t played many matches in many weeks, it was great to come out here and start my season”, Sharapova said.
Williams was on course for a calendar-year Grand Slam in 2015 with wins here and at the French Open and Wimbledon before a semifinal loss at the U.S. Open to Roberta Vinci of Italy.
Federer will next play Grigor Dimitrov, who has a style that has been compared with Federer’s, after the No. 27-seeded player beat Marco Trungelliti 6-3, 4-6, 6-2, 7-5.
“The first match at a Grand Slam, any tournament, is always tricky, especially going into a match against somebody I’ve never faced before”.
Advertisement
Radwanska also caught the eye in a 6-4 6-0 win over Monica Puig, while home favourite Daria Gavrilova overcame Kristina Mladenovic in a thriller to reach the fourth round of a grand slam for the first time.
