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."
PHOTO: AP
In the following match on center 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, who yielded only six points in the first five games, keeping Davenport constantly on the run. Nothing much was going right for Davenport, who 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 in their support of the two players, with a sprinkling of American flags scattered around packed Rod Laver Arena, largely shifted to underdog Davenport and cheered loudly when she finally held for her first game to pull within 5-1.
PHOTO: EPA
Sharapova held to finish off the set in 26 minutes with a crisp backhand cross-court winner.
In the second set, Davenport started showing flashes of the skills that carried her to three Grand Slam titles and the No. 1 ranking. She fended off triple break point while serving at 3-3 before Sharapova cashed a fourth with a sharply angled backhand service return winner.
Sharapova, who never gave up more than two points in her eight service games, held, then broke Davenport for the fourth time when the US player netted a forehand on Sharapova's second match point.
Sharapova, who lost last year's final to Serena Williams, finished with 26 winners to just 12 unforced errors.
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 Meng Yuan, hitting so hard on virtually every shot that she seemed to be trying to reduce the ball to bits of fluff.
Henin ran through the first set against Russia's Olga Poutchkova in 22 minutes while committing just five unforced errors. But hard-hitting Poutchkova began picking up her game, and Henin appeared to be bothered by the gusty winds that made every service toss an adventure, complicated on one side by a bright midday sun.
Henin had five double-faults in her first two service games of the second set, but was clearly happy to have survived.
Roddick, with momentum from leading the US team to victory in the Davis Cup final and winning last week's exhibition in Kooyong, conceded only eight points in his first eight service games.
Berrer finally broke Roddick's first service game of the third set. Roddick saved two break points before almost completely missing a service return from the German on the third, then slammed his racket to the court.
After Berrer held to pull ahead 3-0, Roddick ran off the next five games, getting the deciding break when the German badly misjudged an easy overhead and shanked it into the net to hand Roddick a 4-3 lead.
Berrer fended off four match points while serving at 3-5. Then Roddick easily held to finish off the match.
Second-ranked Rafael Nadal breezed to a 6-0, 6-2, 6-2 win over Frenchman Florent Serra.
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