Australian Open champion Maria Sharapova maintained her perfect start to the season with a win in the 1st round of the Pacific Life Open on Sunday. weathered an untidy opening set to

The 4th seed Russian swept aside Eleni Daniilidou of Greece 7-5 6-3 in a 3rd round encounter at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden to record her 16th successive victory of the year.

“It was a very scratchy match from my side from the beginning,” Maria said after beating Daniilidou for the sixth time in six career meetings.

“I was just not seeing the ball well, not moving that great. She doesn’t quite give you a lot of rhythm, which I should pick up really fast, and I didn’t do that well today.

“But it got better towards the end of the second set. I started seeing the ball better and moving in. I was just not moving in after my shots at all.”

Sharapova, who won her third grand slam crown at the Australian Open in January before claiming her 18th WTA title in Doha the following month, knows very little about her next opponent, Ukrainian Alona Bondarenko.

“I can’t say too much, because I’ve never played against her and I haven’t watched too much of her on TV,” Maria said.