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Sharapova Puts Beating on Davenport at Australian Open
Posted on January 16, 2008
After experiencing considerable success at smaller tournaments since her return late last year after the birth of her first child, Lindsay Davenport found out Wednesday at the Australian Open how her form stacks up against the top players at the bigger events.
Not very well.
What was hyped as a blockbuster second-round meeting turned into a blowout when No. 5 seed Maria Sharapova dominated her like-styled American opponent 6-1, 6-3 to move into the third round.
"Anytime you play a top player you see how far away you are," said the 31-year-old Davenport. "She was head and shoulders above me."
Sharapova was all business against the player who had won 19 of 20 matches since returning to the tour last September.
"I approached it like a final," Sharapova said. "From the first point on I knew the serve and return would be the key to the match. I was just ready for that from the first point."
There were three seeded upsets Wednesday in Melbourne, with Frenchwoman Aravane Rezai upsetting (13) Tatiana Golovin in three sets, Aussie Casey Dellacqua outlasting (15) Patty Schnyder 8-6 in the third, and Taipei's Su-Wei Hsieh stomping (19) Sybille Bammer 6-2, 6-0.
Dellacqua, who had never won at the Australian Open in five previous appearances, will next face former No. 1 Amelie Mauresmo.
"I've got nothing to lose again," Dellacqua said of facing Mauresmo. "I'm hitting the ball really well and I feel really good. Hopefully I can keep this run going."
The other three Top 10 seeds in action advanced into the third round without dropping a set in (1) Justine Henin (d. Olga Poutchkova), (3) Jelena Jankovic (d. Edina Gallovits), and (7) Serena Williams (d. Meng Yuaun).
Highlights Thursday in Melbourne are (8) Venus Williams vs. Camille Pin, riser Alize Cornet vs. (9) Daniela Hantuchova, (6) Anna Chakvetadze vs. Alisa Kleybanova in an all-Russian, and Akiko Morigami vs. (27) Maria Kirilenko.
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