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 Up 2-0 in the second set and closing in on victory, the Russian's
serve crumbled, allowing Davis to reel off five consecutive games
and eventually capture a tense second set tiebreak.
Fifth seed Sharapova left the court for a lengthy comfort break
between sets but re-emerged with a fresh outfit and a renewed focus,
and proceeded to hammer the hapless American.
Bashing consecutive aces with her first two serves, Sharapova roared
through without dropping a game, closing out the match when her
103rd-ranked opponent swiped a backhand long.
"I don't have a chat in the mirror, I think I get fined for that,"
Sharapova said courtside of her trip to the locker-room.
"I changed my dress and felt a little bit lighter which made me move
better. But other than that, that's all I can share."
The win was 28-year-old Sharapova's 600th on tour and the five-time
grand slam champion now faces an inter-generational battle against
teenager Bencic.
"Yeah, an impressive player," said Sharapova. "A newer generation
that's already established herself in the past season, beaten a lot
of top players.
"It's a tough fourth round. We haven't played against each other
before, but I'm sure we'll be playing many times."
Long touted for big things, 12th seed Bencic was the first player
into the round of 16 after fighting back from a set down to overhaul
Ukrainian Kateryna Bondarenko 4-6 6-2 6-4 in the earlier match at
Rod Laver Arena.
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Easily outstripping her previous second round best at the
tournament, Bencic also became the first Swiss woman to reach the
fourth round at Melbourne Park since her mentor Martina Hingis and
Patty Schnyder in 2007.
The 18-year-old said she was not intimidated by the prospect of
playing a five-times grand slam winner as she looks to reach a
second quarter-final at a major by matching her breakthrough run at
the 2014 U.S. Open.
"I'm very happy to play all these big players," she said. "That's
what I play for. For sure, I will prepare good and just be really
excited."
(Reporting by Ian Ransom; Editing by Amlan Chakraborty/Patrick
Johnston)
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