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 The statuesque second seed was forced to save match points
against fellow Russian Panova on Wednesday but roared back into form
against the hapless Kazakh, who was completely out-gunned in the
baseline duels.
"I think I rebounded really well. I had a good hit yesterday," the
five-times grand slam champion told reporters.
"Just kind of thought a little bit about what I wanted to try to
achieve tonight no matter who I played.
"Of course, I focused a little bit on myself more than anything
else.
"Just tried to be a bit more aggressive, concentrate. I thought I
did a good job of focusing well."
 Sharapova blasted 22 winners against the 31st seed and sealed the
match with an ace in a tick over an hour.
The Russian will next play Peng Shuai for a place in the
quarter-finals, with the 21st-seeded Chinese taking on the mantle of
retired champion Li Na with a second trip to the last 16 in
Melbourne.
"I think she's always a tough player to play against because she's
really solid," Sharapova said.
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"She's quite powerful. I know she's gone through a few injuries in
her career. Having that start-stop type of career is never easy,
because sometimes you don't feel like you can actually get a routine
and a groove.
"I think she's someone that actually gets better by playing matches,
when she gets a good feeling of her strokes, because so much depends
on her groundstrokes and the fluidity of how she hits."
(Editing by Amlan Chakraborty/John O'Brien)
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