Because of her shoulder surgery two years ago and the fact that Samantha Stosur is ranked number five, Maria Sharapova downplayed her 5-0 record against the Aussie. However, after a close first set, the Russian ran away with the match. Sharapova vanquished Stosur 6-4, 6-1 to move on to the quarterfinals.

After double faults played a huge part in the competitors exchanging breaks to open up the first set, Stosur dismissed break point to guard serve for 3-2. Next, when Sharapova double faulted, Stosur had a break point. Yet, the Russian held her ground to pull out the game and level the set at 3 all.

Then, Stosur caught the double fault bug. With two successive ones, she handed Sharapova double break point. Sharapova capitalized and took a 4-3 edge.

After going down 0-30 when attempting to consolidate, Sharapova succeeded in serving well and consolidated. Sharapova latter comfortably bedded the set.

Subsequent to dismissing a break point to hold serve in the initial game of the second set, Stosur was not so lucky her next time out. Sharapova broke to go ahead 2-1.

From that point on, Sharapova had an unblemished scorecard serving wise with no double faults. The Russian stole two more service games from Stosur to underline her dominance.

In assessing her performance, Sharapova said: “I have a good record against her, but it’s not something that you typically look at going into the match. I know that she’s a very tough player. She’s number five in the world. You can’t take that for granted going out on the court”.

Moreover, Sharapova stated: “Her serve is one of her biggest weapons. She has a great kick out there and gets more spin than anyone on tour. She’ll hang in there with you. . . she’s at [number five] for a reason”.

In terms of viewing the future, Sharapova was asked what she needs to work on to be “consistent” with her game. Sharapova replied: “a lot of it is adjustments throughout the match depending on your opponent. If you find yourself with a game plan that you’re not feeling or doesn’t quite work, you have to find a way to adjust. . . Maybe [it’s] the conditions, [you] just really have to figure it out. That’s the great thing about the sport. You have so many points, so many games and many different opportunities”.

In the quarterfinals, Sharapova will face Alexandra Dulgheru. Dulgheru defeated Shuai Peng 6-3, 6-4. This will be their first encounter.