Australian Open: Venus No Match for Sharapova

Updated: January 18, 2013

Madison Keys hit 32 winners but fell to Angelique Kerber in the 3rd round.

The career head-to-head record between Maria Sharapova and Venus Williams was 4-3. Yesterday, it wasn’t nearly that close. Sharapova thoroughly beat Williams, cruising to a 4-0 lead in the first and closing it out 6-1 6-3. Sharapova was never threatened, and tied Steffi Graf’s 1989 dominance record—losing only four games in her first three matches. She now faces Kristen Flipkens, who needed three sets to eliminate Valeria Savinykh. American teenager Madison Keys had her Melbourne run ended by fifth-seed Angelique Kerber, who pulled out a 6-2 7-5 victory on her 25th birthday. The powerful Keys hit 32 winners, but made 43 errors and lost a key challenge late in the second set. Kerber now faces Ekaterina Makarova, who upset the 11th seed Marion Bartoli in three sets. Agnieszka Radwanska had no trouble with Heather Watson, winning 6-3 6-1, while seeded players Li Na, Ana Ivanovic and Julie Goerges also advanced.

AUSTRALIAN OPEN
Melbourne, Australia
January 14-27, 2013
$13,712,772/Grand Slam
Hard/Outdoors

Results – Friday, January 18, 2013
Singles – Third Round
(2) Maria Sharapova (RUS) d. Venus Williams (USA) 61 63
(4) Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) d. Heather Watson (GBR) 63 61
(5) Angelique Kerber (GER) d. (WC) Madison Keys (USA) 62 75
(6) Li Na (CHN) d. (27) Sorana Cirstea (ROU) 64 61
(19) Ekaterina Makarova (RUS) d. (11) Marion Bartoli (FRA) 67(4) 63 64
(13) Ana Ivanovic (SRB) d. (22) Jelena Jankovic (SRB) 75 63
(18) Julia Goerges (GER) d. Zheng Jie (CHN) 63 16 75
Kirsten Flipkens (BEL) d. (Q) Valeria Savinykh (RUS) 62 46 63

Doubles – Second Round
(1) Errani/Vinci (ITA/ITA) d. Craybas/Scheepers (USA/RSA) 62 60
Date-Krumm/Parra Santonja (JPN/ESP) d. (2) Hlavackova/Hradecka (CZE/CZE) 75 36 63
(WC) Barty/Dellacqua (AUS/AUS) d. (3) Kirilenko/Raymond (RUS/USA) 64 64
(4) Makarova/Vesnina (RUS/RUS) d. Minella/Moulton-Levy (LUX/USA) 64 64
(6) Huber/Martínez Sánchez (USA/ESP) d. (WC) Han/Zhou (CHN/CHN) 16 76(3) 63
(7) Llagostera Vives/Zheng (ESP/CHN) d. Kuznetsova/Wickmayer (RUS/BEL) 63 63
Pavlyuchenkova/Safarova (RUS/CZE) d. (8) Kops-Jones/Spears (USA/USA) 64 62
(14) Grandin/Uhlirova (RSA/CZE) d. Czink/Jovanovski (HUN/SRB) 63 63
(15) Hsieh/Peng (TPE/CHN) d. Johansson/Parmentier (FRA/FRA) 62 64
Soler-Espinosa/Suárez Navarro (ESP/ESP) d. Cibulkova/Pervak (SVK/KAZ) 32 ret. (Pervak: illness)