MELBOURNE, Australia -- Maria Sharapova looked up and spotted a 7-month-old kid staring her down.
"I thought I saw her little kid giving me dirty looks," Sharapova said.
The boy, Jagger, was courtside. His mom, Lindsay Davenport, winner of three Grand Slam titles and with a 19-1 record since returning to the tour, was across the net.
Sharapova beat Davenport 6-1, 6-3 Wednesday night to move into the third round of the Australian Open against a fellow Russian, Elena Vesnina.
"Tell you the truth, I approached it like it's a final," said Sharapova, straying from her 'one-match-at-a-time' mantra. "Ever since I took a peak at the draw and saw that Lindsay was second round."
Davenport was only five tournaments into a comeback after giving birth to Jagger last June. Still, Sharapova was preparing for a matchup worthy of the second week of a major.
"You probably don't get to see too many second rounds where you see two Grand Slams champions, former No. 1s playing against each other," she said. "The buildup to the match, the excitement, the showtime -- I love that. As an athlete, that's what you play for."
And that's probably what brought Davenport back.
|
|
| Justine Henin takes her picture-perfect backhand into the third round. (AP) |
Sharapova never faced a break point. She broke for the fourth time when Davenport netted a forehand on second match point.
"I'm disappointed with the way this match went and this tournament went, but I have to look big picture at this point in my career," Davenport said. "So far it's gone pretty well the last few months."
Justine Henin could say the same about her time back on the tour after a marriage breakup that kept her from Melbourne last year. She dominated the rest of the 2007 season with a 63-4 record, including wins at the French and U.S. Opens.
Her 6-1, 7-5 victory over Russia's Olga Poutchkova on Wednesday extended the Belgian's streak to 30 consecutive wins since an upset semifinal loss to Marion Bartoli at Wimbledon.
