Two former No. 1s, four-time Grand Slam champion, Maria Sharapova of Russia, and seven-time Grand Slam champion, Venus Williams of the USA, met in round three of the 2013 Australian Open. No. 2 seed, Maria kept up her dominating ways eliminating the No. 25 seed, Venus, 6-1, 6-3.
After the match, Maria said: ““I think when we both looked at the draw, it was a matchup we were both looking forward to. I was a really determined player out there because I knew the tennis that
Venus responded: “[Maria] played very well. I expect her to play well… Definitely not my best day today. But there’s always other days to play better.” Venus ended the match with 26 unforced errors.
Maria has been totally dominant in her matches, losing only four games through three complete rounds.
Venus has seven Grand Slam singles titles, but no titles at the Australian Open. Maria has four Grand Slam singles titles, with one at the Australian Open in 2008.
Maria will next play unseeded Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium in the fourth round.
In other action, No. 13 seed, Ana Ivanovic downed No. 22 seed, Jelena Jankovic 7-5, 6-3 and will next face No. 4 seed, Agnieszka Radwanska who had a win over unseeded Heather Watson 6-3, 6-1.
No. 6 seed, Li Na ousted No. 27 seed, Sorana Cirstea 6-4, 6-1, and will face No. 18 seed, Julia Georges, a winner over Jie Zheng 6-3, 1-6, 7-5.
No. 5 seed, Angelique Kerber defeated unseeded Madison Keys, and will face No. 19 seed, Ekaterina Makarova, a winner in a close match over No. 11 seed, Marion Bartoli, 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-4.
