Sharapova in ominous form as Bouchard thrashes Serena
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MARIA Sharapova made a powerful start to the new tennis season yesterday, crushing Kazakhstan’s Yaroslava Shvedova 6-0 6-1 at the Brisbane International.
After spending more than half her life on the professional circuit, the 27-year-old knows the follies of reading too much into her early matches, but the Russian was still pleased by her performance.
“It certainly felt good to start, after not playing a match for a couple of months,” she said.
Sharapova served well, landing 67 per cent of her first serves and saving the two break points she faced, and was ruthless against Shvedova, racing through the opening set in just 23 minutes and jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the second.
A year ago, Sharapova arrived in Australia still unsure about her prospects for the season after a shoulder injury forced her to miss the 2013 US Open. She went on to win four titles, including a second French Open, and finished ranked No. 2.
Meanwhile, Canadian teenager Eugenie Bouchard swatted aside an out-of-sorts Serena Williams 6-2 6-1 at the Hopman Cup in Perth yesterday.
The American world No.1 body language suggested she would rather have been anywhere else than the blue hardcourts in Western Australia.
An on-court espresso helped spark her into life as she overcame a first set bagel to beat Italy’s Flavia Pennetta 0-6 6-3 6-0 on Monday in the round robin mixed team event but nothing could help bring her out of yesterday’s malaise.
“I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I’m so tired,” Williams said after the match.
Sluggish footwork and slow serves allowed Bouchard to break the 33-year-old with ease as the Canadian bounced back from a 6-0 6-4 loss to Czech Lucie Safarova to record her first win over Williams.
“I think I played pretty solid, I’m happy I came out and put on a better show than last time, the 19-year-old world No.6 said.
The Australian Open is held this month in Melbourne.
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