Angelique Kerber destroyed Maria Sharapova 6-1 6-3 to make the second week of the Australian Open.
The German won 86% of her first service points compared to Sharapova’s 38% as she sent out a statement to the rest of the draw. Kerber returned every shot back with interest as her defence was too good for the powerful Sharapova, who seemed to be clueless in the first set. Her strange decision cost her as the Russian was broke three times as she convincingly lost the first set, 6-1.
The second set was a much better performance from Sharapova as the two former champions shared breaks of serve at the start of the set. However as the set wore on Sharapova lacked depth on her shots and lacked energy to motivate herself. This allowed Kerber to pick her shots and play to her strengths as she was looking to capitalise on a week Sharapova second serve. The 2016 champion broke in the eight game and then served out the match for an impressive victory in 64 minutes.
After today’s performance the German established herself as the tournament favourite with an impressive victory and it seems like the former world number one is playing even better than 2016, where she won two grand slams. As for Sharapova, she was made to look mediocre and average as she looks to assess her options for the rest of the season.
Kerber will now either play Su-Wei Hsieh or 26th seed Agnieszka Radwanska in the fourth round on Monday.
