Sharapova, Bouchard move into fourth round
Maria Sharapova kept her Australian Open title hopes on track by sweeping into the fourth round with a crushing win over Zarina Diyas.
The second seed put her second-round stumble – when she had to save two match points – to steamroll the Kazakhstani 31st seed 6-1 6-1.
Sharapova outgunned Diyas in just over one hour to set up a clash with China’s 21st seed Peng Shuai.
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It was a major return to form after her erratic second-round performance against little-known Russian compatriot Alexandra Panova.
Panova led 4-1 in the final set and then held a pair of match points in the 10th game.
Earlier, Canadian sensation Eugenie Bouchard battled in the first set, but proceeded to breeze past unseeded Caroline Garcia to reach the fourth round.
Bouchard defeated Frenchwoman Garcia 7-5 6-0 on Rod Laver Arena, dishing out a bagel in a second set that lasted only 28 minutes.
But Friday’s encounter was far more stressful than that for Bouchard, who reached the semi-finals last year in her maiden Australian Open campaign.
Bouchard was broken three times in the opening set.
The 20-year-old trailed 2-3 when she started to swing momentum in a marathon game that lasted 24 points and over 13 minutes.
Bouchard and Garcia battled to deuce nine times before the seventh seed eventually broke back.
“I don’t think it was the prettiest tennis out there today,” Bouchard said.
“I didn’t get much rhythm … I’m just happy I got through even if I wasn’t playing my best.”
Bouchard next meets Romanian Irina-Camelia Begu, who defeated German Carina Witthoeft 6-4 6-4.
And Belgian Yanina Wickmayer ousted another seed.
Wickmayer defeated Italy’s 14th seed Sara Errani 4-6 6-4 6-3 at Hisense Arena.
The world No.80, who has played three three-setters this week at Melbourne Park, accounted for 23rd seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the first round.
Simona Halep will be Wickmayer’s next opponent, after she defeated Bethanie Mattek-Sands 6-4 7-5.
A former US Open semi-finalist, Wickmayer has won all three of their previous meetings – although admittedly they came in 2010-12.
Russian Ekaterina Makarova became the first woman through to the fourth round, trumping in-form Czech Karolina Pliskova 6-4 6-4 in one hour and eight minutes on Friday.
Makarova, seeded 10th and twice a quarter-finalist at the Australian Open, is well placed to reach the last eight again.
The 26-year-old next faces German Julia Goerges, unseeded and ranked 73rd in the world.
Goerges downed world No.142 Lucie Hradecka 7-6 (8-6) 7-5 in an hour and 40 minutes on Friday.
Goerges and Makarova have never played each other on the WTA tour.
China’s Peng Shuai was the other early women’s winner on Friday, the 21st seed beating Kazakh Yaroslava Shvedova 7-6 (7-9) 6-3.
– AAP