Maria Sharapova of Russia celebrates beating Lindsay Davenport of the United States during their second-round match in the women's singles at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, yesterday. - AP
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP):
Fifth-ranked Maria Sharapova put an end to new mom Lindsay Davenport's strong comeback, taking a 6-1, 6-3 victory yesterday to reach the Australian Open third round.
The eagerly awaited match pitted Davenport, who was 19-1 with three titles since returning to the tour, against a former Grand Slam winner for the first time since she took maternity leave to give birth to son Jagger last June.
"From the day I found out, I started working for this game,'' Sharapova said of the draw. "I approached it like it's a final.''
In the following match on centre court, sixth-ranked Andy Roddick was hot on a cool night to advance 6-2, 6-2, 6-4 over Germany's Michael Berrer.
Not quite as hot as Sharapova, though, who yielded only six points in the first five games, keeping Davenport constantly on the run Davenport saw her serves come back for winners and passing shots zip past when she ventured to the net.
The crowd, which had started roughly divided between the two players, largely shifted to underdog Davenport and cheered loudly when she finally held for her first game.
More to cheer for
"I wish I could've given them a little more to cheer for,'' Davenport said. "Obviously I wanted to play a little better than I did in the beginning, but she was really aggressive on me.
"She was head and shoulders better than I was. I felt like I never really hit the ball that well, and I'm in trouble when I'm not hitting the ball well.''
Defending champion Serena Williams and top-ranked Justine Henin earlier scored straight-set victories that weren't as easy as the scores indicated to move a step closer to a possible semi-final showdown.
Williams was the aggressor in a 6-3, 6-1 win over Yuan Meng, hitting so hard on virtually every shot that she seemed to be trying to reduce the ball to bits of fluff.
"My game was definitely a good game to play someone like her,'' Williams said. ''I really enjoy the battle.''
Henin committed just five unforced errors to take the first set against Russia's Olga Poutchkova in 22 minutes. But hard-hitting Poutchkova began picking up her game, and Henin appeared to be bothered by gusty winds that made every service toss an adventure, complicated on one side by a bright midday sun.
Good first set
"I played a very good first set, then I lost some intensity,'' said Henin, who skipped Melbourne last year because she was going through a divorce and had to default in the 2006 final because of a stomach illness.
Second-ranked Rafael Nadal breezed to a 6-0, 6-2, 6-2 win over Frenchman Florent Serra.
Unseeded Mardy Fish ousted No. 11 Tommy Robredo, but two other Americans lost: Jesse Levine to No. 24 Jarkko Nieminen and Sam Warburg to Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who earlier beat No. 9 Andy Murray. No. 4 Nikolay Davydenko, No. 14 Mikhail Youzhny, No. 20 Ivo Karlovic and No. 23 Paul-Henri Mathieu also advanced.
No. 18 Amelie Mauresmo, who won when Henin pulled out of the 2006 final, needed 10 match points to beat Yaroslava Shvedova of Russia. Other women advancing included third-seeded Jelena Jankovic, No. 11 Elena Dementieva, No. 12 Nicole Vaidisova and No. 17 Shahar Peer. But 2004 semi-finalist Patty Schnyder, seeded 15th, lost to Australia's Casey Dellacqua.
