Rediff.com« Back to articlePrint this article

Confident and injury-free, Sharapova surges forth at Melbourne Park

January 20, 2016 13:34 IST

Russia's Maria Sharapova plays a backhand in her second round match against Belarus's Aliaksandra Sasnovich at the 2016 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on Wednesday

IMAGE: Russia's Maria Sharapova plays a backhand in her second round match against Belarus' Aliaksandra Sasnovich at the 2016 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on Wednesday. Photograph: Scott Barbour/Getty Images

Maria Sharapova declared herself free from the worry of a forearm injury after charging into the Australian Open third round on Wednesday.

The fifth seeded Russian had to pull out of the leadup Brisbane International with a sore left forearm but was in full flight in a 6-2, 6-1 rout of unseeded Belarusian Aliaksandra Sasnovich, the early match at the Rod Laver Arena.

"Yeah, I feel pretty good. I felt I was more confident with my left hand today," Sharapova, runner-up last year to Serena Williams, told reporters.

"That's always something that -- especially when it's like in the hand-wrist area -- it's in the back of your mind even though you're feeling it.

"I felt really good and confident today about it."

Long a baseline blaster rather than an all-court player with a delicate touch, the five-times grand slam champion had enough comfort against Sasnovich to launch a few drop-shots from the baseline, with mixed results.

Russia's Maria Sharapova celebrates after winning her second round match against Belarus' Aliaksandra Sasnovich

IMAGE: Russia's Maria Sharapova celebrates after winning her second round match against Belarus' Aliaksandra Sasnovich. IMAGE: Thomas Peter/Reuters

Sharapova said she had been working on mixing up her game, which some pundits have seen as too one-dimensional to beat top seed Williams, who has long dominated the Russian.

"When I'm aggressive and I have depth on my shots, it's just good to have that variety to bring (players) in, to move forward myself," said Sharapova, who next faces American Lauren Davis.

"I mean, I had a couple of good (drop-shots), I had a couple of really crappy ones. I'd say it was pretty mediocre today.

"It's actually something that I had to add, because I was getting really frustrated losing to my hitting partner all the time.

"He just stood so far back behind the baseline, I was like, just can't handle him beating me so often.

"I have to just change things around. That's kind of when I started getting into that a little bit.

"He was a little surprised (laughter). But it started working, so that was good."

Source: REUTERS
© Copyright 2024 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.