Australian Open: Maria Sharapova dismantles Peterson to warn rivals

The 2008 champion held everything under control on both the serve and return, losing 11 points in her games and never facing a break point despite one dangerous game when she was already 4-1 up in the second. She defended the second serve with high efficiency and the Australian Open debutant on the other side of the net was not ready to repeat something like that in her games, losing 56% of the points behind the initial shot and giving her serve away five times from seven opportunities she gave to Sharapova.

Maria had 18 winners and 20 unforced errors, firing bullets from her forehand and staying in the rallies when her left wing was under the attack, using every opportunity to strike first and impose her shots. The Russian needed 11 minutes to secure her first break of the match in game three, hitting the zone with groundstrokes and constructing the points nicely to forge an early lead.

A deep return pushed Maria 5-2 up with a break at love and she closed the opener in style, winning the last 12 points for a 6-2 after 35 minutes of play. A lob winner earned another break point for Sharapova at the start of the second set, converting it thanks to a lucky net cord after the return that destructed Peterson and forced an error from her.

The third game delivered another break for Sharapova, holding after several deuces in game six to extend the lead and moving over the finish line with a break at love a few minutes later when Rebecca sprayed a backhand error to end the tournament in the second round.

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