By Richard Pagliaro | Thursday, January 21, 2016
Maria Sharapova withstood a second-set lapse, defeating Lauren Davis, 6-1, 6-7 (5), 6-0 to score her 600th career win.
Photo credit: Mark Peterson/Corleve
Banging her clenched fist off her thigh, Maria Sharapova roused her spirits and raised her game for the decisive set. Striking with menacing authority, Sharapova took the fight to Lauren Davis delivering a third-set knockout.
On a day in which her game alternately soared and sputtered, Sharapova defeated Davis, 6-1, 6-7 (5), 6-0 to score her 600th career victory and advance to the Australian Open fourth round. Sharapova is the 17th woman to attain 600 match wins, joining Serena Williams, Venus Williams and Jelena Jankovic as the fourth active player to achieve the milestone.
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"I think it's a proud number," Sharapova said. "I've played for many years. I don't think about those numbers until I finish the match and someone does mention it. I think it's a good fact that I've been able to win that many matches.
"But overall it's not constantly on my mind, how many matches I've won in my career."
Intervals of inspired play gave way to some sloppy second-set shotmaking as Sharapova tried to shake off the rust of inactivity—and a stubborn Davis. The 6-foot-2 Russian stands a foot taller than her American opponent, hits a heavier ball and overwhelmed Davis in the decider.
Sharapova smacked 44 winners, including 16 aces, powering into the round of 16 for the 10th time.
It wasn't easy and it wasn't always pretty, but Sharapova showed firm resolve winning 13 of 16 points played on her serve in the final set.
The victory propels Sharapova into an intriguing fourth-round clash with Belinda Bencic in a match of the thumper vs. the thinker.
The 12th-seeded Swiss rallied past Kateryna Bondarenko, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4, to reach the round of 16 for the first time in Melbourne.
"(Bencic is) an impressive player," Sharapova said. "A newer generation that's already established herself in the past season, beaten a lot of top players. It's a tough fourth round. We haven't played against each other before, but I'm sure we'll be playing many times. It's great that we can start here."
Stinging returns right back at the American's feet, Sharapova drew successive errors to break for 3-1. Sharapova slammed her second ace sealing a love hold for 4-1.
The fifth-ranked Russian reeled off five straight games, including 14 of the final 16 points, to snatch a one-set lead. Sharapova belted four times as many winners as Davis (12 to 3) in the 26-minute opener.
Davis tried to work the angles and move the bigger hitter. But the depth and velocity of Sharapova's drives pinned the 103rd-ranked American behind the baseline denying her time to create.
The scrappy Davis didn't shrink from the deficit. She broke back for 2-all in the second set.
Playing deeper shots and putting more balls back in play, Davis drained errors from Sharapova, who lost her range and a bit of her concentration. Sharapova double faulted to donate the break and a 4-2 second-set lead to Davis.
Davis is solid in all areas, but the vertically-challenged American struggled to clear the net on her first serve. She served just 45 percent in the match Sharapova broke back for 3-4 then held to level.
Sliding her ninth ace to complete a love hold, Sharapova drew even, 5-all.
A tense tie break saw both women make jittery miscues. Sharapova flat drives are her strength, but her lack of variation cost her when she tried to squeeze a flat forehand return down the line to fall behind 4-5.
Davis played outrageous defense and was in prime position for a winning forehand volley, but netted the routine shot and cringed covering her mouth with her hand. Sharapova couldn't capitalize on the gift. She missed a pair of sketchy forehands as Davis took the 77-minute second set.
Munching on peanut butter before the final set, Davis would need more than protein power to stop Sharapova.
Returning refreshed after a lengthy bathroom break, Sharapova broke for a 2-0 third-set lead as Davis bounced her Wilson racquet off the court in frustration over her errant serve. Davis earned a break point in the third game, but Sharapova denied the challenge, holding for 3-0.
Stepping into the court and ripping returns, Sharapova broke again for 4-0 and never looked back.
Sharapova has surrendered just one set in the tournament, a sound start for the five-time Grand Slam champion, who arrived in Melbourne with no match play after pulling out of Brisbane with a left forearm injury.
It's been a kind draw for Sharapova, who has beaten two opponents ranked outside the Top 100 and has not faced a Top 50-ranked foe yet. The degree of difficulty will steepen dramatically when Sharapova takes on Bencic.
The 18-year-old Swiss handed Serena Williams her first hard-court loss of 2015 in the Toronto semifinals, becoming the youngest player to beat Serena in a completed match since a 17-year-old Sharapova did it in the 2004 WTA Finals.
The winner of the Sharapova-Bencic match could play the world No. 1 in the quarterfinals.