Maria Sharapova advances in Melbourne

Women’s No.5 Maria Sharapova easily crashed (6-4 6-3) Jelena Kostanic Tosic, who is just the 102nd in the WTA rating, and cruised through to the second round of the Australian Open. The match lasted an hour and 28 minutes.

Sharapova took the opponent’s serve at the start of the first set and secured two breaks in the second one. The former Wimbledon champion’s success in the opening set was founded on her first-service percentages, which saw her hit four aces and keep more than 90% of her first serves in play. But while Kostanic Tosic was unable to live with Sharapova in the first set, the gap between the two closed in the second as Sharapova struggled to maintain her dominance.