Sharapova, Mauresmo Escape Upsets, Four More Seeds Out at Australian Open

From the depths some competition surfaced Wednesday on the women's side in second-round play at the Australian Open, with No. 2 seed Amelie Mauresmo and No. 4 Maria Sharapova pushed to three sets before advancing into the third round.

Sharapova quickly found herself a set down against American mom Lindsay Lee-Waters, but rebounded with force for a 4-6, 6-0, 6-3 win.

"In the third set, we just fought for every single ball. In the end, it was just a matter of a few points. She played amazing in the first set," Sharapova said. "To have a child and then to be able to come back and be on the tour and play so well is amazing. It takes a lot of guts to get back out there. A lot of credit to her, for sure."

Mauresmo likewise had to come back from a set down after moving sluggishly to begin the match, but mowed down Russian Dinara Safina 2-6, 6-1, 6-0.

"My legs were not really moving very well and she played a very good first set," Mauresmo said after recovering to beat Marat's sister. "It was a tough one. I hope I'm going to get better and better."

Among the other seeded winners, No. 5 Svetlana Kuznetsova shrugged off the swirling doping allegations to give France's Marion Bartoli a 6-2, 6-0 swirly, joined by (7) Serena (d. Randriantefy, bagel in the second), (11) Nadia Petrova (d. Ferguson 6-1 in the third), (15) Silvia Farina Elia (d. Domachowska), (21) Amy "Joltin' Joe" Frazier (d. Denisa "Hanging" Chladkova in three), and (22) Maggie Maleeva (d. Jidkova).

Four seeds were uprooted in (9) Vera "The Crying Game" Zvonareva (l. to Russian countrywoman Douchevina), (17) Fabiola "The Fabulous One" Zuluaga (l. to Groenefeld), (28) Shinobu Asagoe (l. to China's Li), and (29) Gisela "Sgt." Dulko (l. to Diaz-Olivia in an all-Argentine).

Other un-seeds into the third round were Russian Evgenia Linetskaya (d. Martina "Nurse, I Need a" Sucha, bagel in the first), Indian wildcard Sania Mirza (d. Mandula), new Brit sensation Elena Baltacha (d. Cohen-Aloro 6-1 in the third), and hot-handed Serb Ana Ivanovic (d. Kirilenko, baking two breadsticks).

"I'm really delighted. I was so tired but I thought if you just keep fighting anything is possible," said the bespeckled Baltacha after her third-set triumph. "I'll have to change my flight now for the fifth time but I think I'll stick with economy."

Scheduled for play Thursday are Peng vs. (8) Venus, (10) Molik vs. Nakamura, (3) Myskina vs. Obziler, (18) Likhovtseva vs. Aussie Evie "The Dominator" Dominikovic, (1) Davenport vs. Pastikova, Klara "Kouky" Koukalova vs. (25) Raymond, Chakvetadze vs. (6) Dementieva in an all-Vodka-shot, (1) Petrova/Shaughnessy vs. Hantuchova/Navratilova, (12) Patty "Handshake" Schnyder vs. Michaella "Little Sis" Krajicek, Abigail "Hit Me Baby" Spears vs. (20) Tatiana "Hot Pants" Golovin, (26) Hantuchova vs. Barbara "Like I Give a" Schett, (27) Smashnova vs. Tanasugarn, Perebiynis vs. (14) Schiavone, Tatiana "The Pocket Baseliner" Panova vs. (23) Jankovic, the next-in-line teen sensation Vaidisova vs. (31) Kostanic, (19) Dechy vs. Mashona "Little Sis" Washington, and Garbin vs. (13) Karolina "The Spreminator" Sprem.