Aggressive Sharapova swats Kerber aside

Melbourne: Former champion Maria Sharapova continued to sweep through the Australian Open draw on Saturday with a dominant 6-1, 6-2 third round victory over German Angelique Kerber.

Kerber, the 30th seed, offered resistance to the aggressive Russian with a service break at 2-0 down in the second set but Sharapova simply upped the decibel level in her shrieks and battered her into submission in 87 minutes. Showing no signs of the ankle injury that ruled her out of the Brisbane warm-up event, Sharapova, who won the last of her three grand slam titles in Melbourne in 2008, reached the last 16 having conceded just five games in three matches. Fourth seed Sharapova will face compatriot Svetlana Kuznetsova or another German in Sabine Lisicki in the fourth round with a potential showdown against five-times champion Serena Williams looming in the quarter-finals. Bureau Report