Russian Maria Sharapova produced a scintillating display to end the run of comeback mum Lindsay Davenport at the Australian Open on Wednesday, hammering the 2000 champion 6-1, 6-3 in the second round.
In a highly-anticipated battle of the two former world number ones, fifth seed Sharapova blew Davenport away in the first set and held off the American in the second to take her place in the last 32.
"To tell the truth, I treated it like a final," Sharapova said in a courtside interview.
"From the day I found out that I might play her I started working towards her game. I wanted my coach to hit the balls as hard as he can because she is one of the biggest hitters out there."
Davenport had won 19 of her 20 matches since returning to the tour last September after a year off, but she was outclassed in the first set as the Russian wrong-footed and out-manoeuvred her at will.
The American lifted her game in the second set but Sharapova broke twice, in the seventh and ninth games to progress to a clash with compatriot Elena Vesnina.
Sharapova paid tribute to Davenport for coming back to the tour so soon, and with such success.
"She was out for a year and she looks incredible," she said. "I thought I saw her little baby over there and thought he was giving me dirty looks."
Roddick eases through
Sixth seed Andy Roddick survived a minor third-set hiccup and romped to a 6-2, 6-2, 6-4 victory over Germany's Michael Berrer in the second round.
Roddick raced away with the first two sets with two breaks in each while his own overpowering service game was again to the fore with the German not given a single opportunity to break.
The third set, however, was a different story with the 54th-ranked lefthander racing out a 3-0 lead.
Roddick clawed his way back into the set, however, and reeled off the next five games with the opportunity to seal victory on Berrer's serve.
Roddick, down 40-15, then produced a series of audacious chips and lobs to get to deuce where he held three match points -- none of which he could convert.
The 2003 US Open champion made no mistake in the next game, though, and served out.
"It's a little bit cold and I knew the ball wouldn't go through the court so much," Roddick said in a courtside interview.
"I was content to hit it around and let him try and bully the ball."
He will meet Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber in the next round.
