Maria Sharapova Routs Yakimova To Reach US Open Third Round

By James Waterson Photo Credit: Nick Laham/Getty Images
Maria Sharapova of Russia returns a shot against Anastasiya Yakimova of Belarus during Day Three of the 2011 US Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on August 31, 2011 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Nick Laham/Getty Images)

Maria Sharapova of Russia returns a shot against Anastasiya Yakimova of Belarus during Day Three of the 2011 US Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on August 31, 2011 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Nick Laham/Getty Images)

(August 31, 2011) Maria Sharapova progressed to the third round of the US Open after she defeated 84th-ranked Anastasia Yakimova of Belarus 6-1, 6-1 Wednesday night.

Sharapova was certainly in better form than she was in her first-round encounter with Great Britain's Heather Watson, which took the Russian more than two and a half hours to win.

“I think I improved my intensity a lot. I was moving a lot better, just hitting a lot freer,” Sharapova said. “But overall I did, you know, many things much better than the previous round. I really had to. I didn't play my best tennis, but I gave myself a chance to play another match and improve.”

Against Yakimova, Sharapova played her typically aggressive game. She hit 17 winners and 17 unforced errors, and forced her opponent to scramble side-to-side to keep the ball in play.

Despite the disparity in the scoreline, the Belorussian had five chances to break the Sharapova serve. but she never managed to take that final step and her opponent wrapped the set up after 42 minutes.

The rest of the match was a foregone conclusion, as Sharapova hit 11 winners, six unforced errors, and she lost only one point on serve.

Sharapova plays 25th-ranked Flavia Pennetta of Italy in the third round. She has a 2-1 record against Pennetta, although the Italian won their last match, in 2009 in Los Angeles, in three sets. In fact, all three of their matches have gone the distance.

Earlier in the day, 82nd-ranked Angelique Kerber of Germany claimed one of the day's many upsets when she took out 12th-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska 6-3, 4-6, 6-3. It's the first time since Wimbledon in 2010 and only the third time in her career Kerber has advanced to this stage in a Grand Slam tournament.

Meanwhile, Radwanska has never done well at the US Open. She's lost in the second round for the last three years, and the furthest she's ever advanced has been the fourth round.