Getty ImagesMELBOURNE, Australia - A rampaging Maria Sharapova doled out a second consecutive double-bagel win at the Australian Open on Wednesday, hammering Japan's Misaki Doi 6-0 6-0 to storm into the third round of the year's first grand slam.
Second seed Sharapova opened her campaign on Monday with the same scoreline against fellow Russian Olga Puchkova and completed 92nd-ranked Doi's humiliation in 47 minutes.
Doi, raising ironic cheers from the crowd at Hisense Arena with every point she won late in the contest, surrendered the match by slamming a shot into the net to hand Sharapova a virtual walkover.
Sharapova will next play Venus Williams in the third round as she bids for a fifth grand slam and second at Melbourne Park. Williams defeated Alize Cornet 6-3, 6-3 on Wednesday.
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Stosur knocked out of home slam early, again
Australia's Samantha Stosur blew a 5-2 lead in the final set to continue her dismal run in her home grand slam, losing 6-4 1-6 7-5 to China's Zheng Jie on Wednesday.
Stosur, US Open champion in 2011, was serving for the match before her nerves seemed to get the better of her, allowing Zheng to claw her way back and reel off five successive games to clinch a place in the third round against Julia Goerges.
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Radwanska, Kerber advance to third round
Agnieszka Radwanska continued her 2013 unbeaten streak, extending it to 11 matches, with a comfortable 6-3 6-3 second round victory over Romania's Irina-Camelia Begu at the Australian Open on Wednesday.
The world number four, who won the Auckland and Sydney tournaments before the grand slam began and is yet to drop a set this year, will now meet either Ksenia Pervak or Heather Watson in the third round.
Fifth seed Angelique Kerber also advanced to the third round when she managed to overcome a feisty Lucie Hradecka 6-3 6-1 in 69 minutes.
Kerber, like Radwanska, dropped the first service game of the match before clicking into gear in the second set and sealing a clash against either American wild card Madison Keys or Austria's Tamira Paszek with an ace.
Rafael Nadal is currently ranked fourth in the world, but has had a dominant run lately as he has won seven of the last eight French Open titles. Mary Carrillo thinks we’re in store for a Nadal-Djokovic final.
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