Maria Sharapova: ‘I should be playing and beating players on hot streak’

Although the next set was a “little dicey”, as she wobbled when serving for the match at 5-4, Sharapova was glad to beat a hasty retreat from the broiling conditions. Andy Roddick said on Twitter that a players’ union had been “a good idea for a long time”, while Andy Murray’s mother, Judy, said she “totally agreed”.

As for how far she can go in the tournament, she said: “I feel like I’m building”.

But still Sevastova was not done and broke back again to force a tiebreak.

The 14th seed swept past American Donald Young on Tuesday in his first game back after recovering from an elbow injury. After squandering a pair of match points, she secured her victory.

The jolt to the Sharapova juggernaut was evident and she began to make unforced errors as service holds and breaks were exchanged.

She opened the year by winning four singles matches at the Hopman Cup, where Germany lost the final to Switzerland, and won the Sydney International last week for her first title since the 2016 U.S. Open.

Struff saved a match point with a searing backhand down the line but fell on the second when Federer crunched a huge serve into the corner. Sharapova often looks like she’s still getting her legs under her, and she had trouble closing out her second round victory.

The 12-time major victor is in the same quarter as No. 4 Alexander Zverev, No. 5 Dominic Thiem and 2014 champion Stan Wawrinka, who confirmed Saturday he’d return at Melbourne Park from his own six-month layoff following surgery on his left knee.

It is her most successful Grand Slam, but after an injury-marred lead-up to the tournament she fell, 6-4, 7-5, to the 123rd-ranked Pera, who is playing her first Australian Open.

It will be a meeting of the only two former champions in the women’s draw, with Sharapova lifting the trophy a decade ago while Kerber was the victor in 2016.

French eighth seed Caroline Garcia narrowly avoided elimination, battling back from a third-set deficit to see off Czech Marketa Vondrousova 6-7 (3-7) 6-2 8-6 in a two-and-half-hour scrap, played out in the searing early-afternoon heat. About three weeks ago, I didn’t know whether I’m going to play Australia or not.

In the rest of the men’s bracket, top seeds Dominic Thiem, Stan Wawrinka, Alexander Zverev, Juan del Potro, Tomas Berdych and David Goffin all booked their place in the second round with relative ease.

But the Latvian, who reached back-to-back quarterfinals at the US Open in 2016 and 2017, suddenly woke up against the 2008 Australian Open victor and broke back immediately. In the third set, Donald found his rhythm but lost 6-4.