It didn’t quite have the drama of her previous match, but women’s No. 3 seed Maria Sharapova bested No. 25 Alize Cornet to advance to the Round of 16 at the 2014 Australian Open. Sharapova played an extended second set, but finished it off in two, winning 6-1, 7-6 (8-6).
Australian Open 2014: Maria Sharapova, Jelena Jankovic advance to 4th round
Women’s No. 3 seed Maria Sharapova and No. 8 seed Jelena Jankovic advanced to the fourth round at the 2014 Australian Open.
Cameron Spencer
That’s a definite improvement from her three-set, three-hour match from the tournament’s second round, in the midst of tournament organizers enacting the Extreme Heat Policy. Sharapova moves on to the fourth round, where she’ll take on Dominika Cibulkova, the No. 20 seed. Cibulkova was also in action on Saturday, dominating the No. 16 seed, Carla Suarez Navarro, 6-1, 6-0. The matchup wasn’t close by any stretch of the imagination, and if Cibulkova shows up in that form again, she’ll give Sharapova a run for her money.
Also victorious on Saturday was No. 8 seed Jelena Jankovic. She took down unseeded Kurumi Nara in straight sets. Jankovic was well in control of the match, winning 6-4, 7-5. She’ll get to face her toughest match yet in No. 11 Simona Halep. Halep also won her match on Saturday, taking down Zarina Diyas, 6-1, 6-4.
Sloane Stephens, the No. 13 seed, made it past Elina Svitolina, though she won’t know if she’s going to face Azarenka, the No. 2 seed, until later in the day as matches are still in progress.
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