Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova needed all her battling qualities to reach the third round of the Australian Open on Wednesday, edging out unheralded American Lindsay Lee-Waters 4-6, 6-0, 6-3.
The fourth-seeded Russian looked in trouble when she dropped the first set but dug deep, hitting eight aces as she recovered to clinch victory in one hour, 47 minutes.
Lee-Waters, the world number 87,
An early break in the second set put the 17-year-old back on track and she held on in the third, winning on her sixth match point.
She will meet Li Na of China in the third round.